Delivery assistance device, delivery assistance method, and non-transitory computer-readable computer medium storing delivery assistance program

ABSTRACT

A delivery assistance device assists in an operation of a delivery service in which an inside of a vehicle, a building, or a facility used by a user is designated as a delivery destination of luggage. The delivery assistance device includes a storage unit, a registration unit configured to register, in the storage unit, a plurality of candidates as delivery destinations of the luggage and priorities for the candidates, and a delivery destination decision unit configured to decide an alternative delivery destination from among the candidates based on the priorities when a deliverer is not able to deliver a delivery destination with the highest priority among the delivery destinations, the delivery destination with the highest priority being designated by the user.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/170,929, filed Oct. 25, 2018, which claims the disclosure of JapanesePatent Application No. 2017-214244 filed on Nov. 6, 2017, both of whichincluding the specification, drawings and abstract are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a delivery assistance device, adelivery assistance method, and a non-transitory computer-readablecomputer medium storing a delivery assistance program.

2. Description of Related Art

For example, a mechanism for using a vehicle cabin of a vehicle such asa trunk as a delivery destination of luggage is disclosed (see JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-206225 (JP2006-206225 A) or the like).

Specifically, when a predetermined transmission signal is transmittedfrom a terminal carried by a deliverer to a vehicle and accordingly,authentication based on authentication information (key information)included in the transmission signal is successful on the vehicle side, atrunk of the vehicle is unlocked and a deliverer causes luggage to beaccommodated in the trunk. Accordingly, a delivery company can provide acustomer with a delivery service in which a vehicle cabin such as thetrunk of the vehicle can be designated as a delivery destination(hereinafter referred to as a “vehicle cabin trunk delivery service”).Similarly, for example, the delivery company can also provide a customerwith a delivery service in which the inside of a lockable and unlockablebuilding or facility used by a user, such as a house or a villa, can bedesignated as a delivery destination.

SUMMARY

However, for example, when the user designates direct reception at thehouse, there is a likelihood of no one being at the house. For example,when the inside (a vehicle cabin) of the vehicle used by the user isdesignated as a delivery destination, the vehicle moves, and therefore,there is a likelihood of the vehicle being not at the designated placeeven when luggage is to be delivered to the designated place. Therefore,even when a user who is a client is a user who uses a delivery servicein which the inside of a vehicle, a building, or a facility (hereinafterreferred to as a “vehicle or the like” for convenience) can bedesignated as a delivery destination, a deliverer cannot change thedelivery destination without permission. Accordingly, the deliverercannot complete delivery and there is a likelihood of redelivery.

The present disclosure provides a delivery assistance device, a deliveryassistance method, and a non-transitory computer-readable computermedium storing a delivery assistance program capable of suppressingredelivery in a delivery service in which the inside of a vehicle or thelike used by the user can be designated as a delivery destination ofluggage.

A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to a deliveryassistance device that assists in an operation of a delivery service inwhich an inside of a vehicle, a building, or a facility used by a useris designated as a delivery destination of luggage. The deliveryassistance device includes a storage unit, a registration unit and adelivery destination decision unit. The registration unit is configuredto register, in the storage unit, a plurality of candidates as deliverydestinations of the luggage and priorities for the candidates. Thedelivery destination decision unit is configured to decide analternative delivery destination from among the candidates based on thepriorities when a deliverer is not able to deliver the luggage to thedelivery destination with the highest priority designated by the user.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, even when theluggage cannot be delivered to the delivery destination designated bythe user, the delivery assistance device can decide the candidate withthe next highest priority after the priority of the designated deliverydestination to be the alternative delivery destination. Therefore, thedelivery assistance device can suppress redelivery.

In the delivery assistance device according to the first aspect of thepresent disclosure, when the deliverer is not able to deliver theluggage to the inside of the vehicle despite the inside of the vehiclebeing designated as the delivery destination of the luggage by the user,the delivery destination decision unit decides, as the alternativedelivery destination, a house of the user, when the house of the user isincluded in the candidates and the priority of the house of the user isa next highest priority after the priority of the inside of the vehicle.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the deliveryassistance device can decide that the house of the user in which afamily member is likely to be or a delivery box is likely to be deployedis an alternative delivery destination even when the luggage cannot bedelivered to a vehicle cabin such as a trunk of the vehicle as thedesignated delivery destination since the vehicle has moved away fromthe designated house or the trunk of the vehicle is full. Accordingly,the delivery assistance device can specifically suppress redelivery.

In the delivery assistance device according to the first aspect of thepresent disclosure, in a case where there is no one at a house of theuser when the luggage is delivered to the house of the user despite thehouse of the user being designated as the delivery destination of theluggage by the user, the delivery destination decision unit decides, asthe alternative delivery destination, the inside of the vehicle when theinside of the vehicle is included in the candidates and the priority ofthe inside of the vehicle is a next highest priority after the priorityof the house of the user.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, even when theluggage cannot be delivered to the house of the user since there is noone at the house, the delivery assistance device can decide that thevehicle cabin such as the trunk of the vehicle of the user parked at thehouse is the alternative delivery destination. Accordingly, the deliveryassistance device can specifically suppress redelivery.

In the delivery assistance device according to the first aspect of thepresent disclosure, the registration unit may register, in the storageunit, the candidates and the priorities for the respective candidatesset using a terminal of the user in advance regardless of a request fordelivery of luggage.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the deliveryassistance device can decide the alternative delivery destination, forexample, when the luggage cannot be delivered to the deliverydestination with the highest priority, based on the prioritiesregistered in advance at the time of registration for use of the trunkdelivery service. Therefore, the user can cause the luggage to bedelivered to the delivery destination candidate with the highestpriority registered in advance, without performing troublesomeregistration each time, by registering the delivery destinationcandidates and the priorities for the respective candidates in advance.Further, even when the luggage cannot be delivered to the deliverydestination candidate with the highest priority, the luggage can bedelivered to the alternative delivery destination. Therefore, thedelivery assistance device can improve convenience for the user whowishes for luggage to be delivered to the same designated place everytime.

In the delivery assistance device according to the first aspect of thepresent disclosure, the registration unit may register, in the storageunit, the candidates and the priorities for the respective candidatesset via a terminal of the user when the delivery of the luggage isrequested.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, for example,the delivery assistance device can prompt the user to set candidates forthe delivery destination and corresponding priorities when the deliveryof luggage is requested, such as a case where the user designates thedelivery destination when the user orders a product at an EC site or acase where the user changes a delivery destination of luggage scheduledto reach a house or the like to the trunk of the vehicle. Therefore, theuser can make the candidates for delivery destination and thecorresponding priority different for each request for delivery of theluggage. Accordingly, the delivery assistance device can improveconvenience for a user who wishes to designate the delivery destinationfrom time to time.

The delivery assistance device according to the first aspect of thepresent disclosure may further include a transmission unit configured totransmit an inquiry to the terminal of the user, the inquiry promptingregistration of a candidate for an alternative delivery destinationhaving a next high priority after the priority of the deliverydestination designated by the user, when the deliverer is not able todeliver the luggage to the delivery destination designated by the user.The registration unit registers, in the storage unit, the candidate forthe alternative delivery destination and the priority of the candidateset from the terminal of the user after the inquiry from thetransmission unit.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, when theluggage cannot be delivered to the designated delivery destination (thatis, the delivery destination with the highest priority), the deliveryassistance device can prompt the delivery destination candidate with thenext priority to be registered through the terminal of the user.Therefore, the delivery assistance device can cause the user to registerthe next delivery destination candidate solely when it is needed for thedelivery destination to be changed. Accordingly, a likelihood of a placeto which the luggage can be reliably delivered being registered by theuser increases. Therefore, the delivery assistance device can furthersuppress redelivery.

In the delivery assistance device according to the first aspect of thepresent disclosure, the transmission unit may transmit the inquiry tothe terminal of the user, when the inside of the vehicle is designatedas the delivery destination of the luggage and the vehicle has movedfrom a designated place within a predetermined time before a scheduleddelivery date and time of the luggage.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the deliveryassistance device can prompt the user to register an alternativedelivery destination candidate before the deliverer actually reaches thevehicle. Therefore, it is possible to improve working efficiency of thedeliverer in a delivery service in which the vehicle cabin of thevehicle can be designated as the delivery destination of the luggage.

In the delivery assistance device according to the first aspect of thepresent disclosure, the candidates may include the inside of the vehicleowned by a family member of the user or the inside of the vehicle ownedby a friend of the user.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, with thedelivery assistance device, even when the luggage is not able to bedelivered to the house of the user or the trunk of the vehicle owned bythe user, the luggage can also be delivered to the vehicle cabin such asa trunk of a vehicle owned by a family member parked at the house or avehicle owned by a friend of the user living in the vicinity. Therefore,the delivery assistance device can further suppress redelivery.

A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to a deliveryassistance method. The delivery assistance method is executed by adelivery assistance device that assists in an operation of a deliveryservice in which an inside of a vehicle, a building, or a facility usedby a user is designated as a delivery destination of luggage. Thedelivery assistance method includes registering, in a storage unit, aplurality of candidates as delivery destinations of the luggage andpriorities for the candidates; and deciding an alternative deliverydestination from among the candidates based on the priorities when theluggage is not able to be delivered to a delivery destination with thehighest priority among the delivery destinations, the deliverydestination with the highest priority being designated by the user.

A third aspect of the present disclosure relates to a non-transitorycomputer-readable computer medium storing a delivery assistance program.The delivery assistance program assists in an operation of a deliveryservice in which an inside of a vehicle, a building, or a facility usedby a user is designated as a delivery destination of luggage for aninformation processing device. The delivery assistance program causesthe information processing device to execute: registering, in a storageunit, a plurality of candidates as delivery destinations of the luggageand priorities for the candidates, and deciding an alternative deliverydestination from among the candidates based on the priorities when theluggage is not able to be delivered to a delivery destination with thehighest priority among the delivery destinations, the deliverydestination with the highest priority being designated by the user.

According to the above-described aspects, it is possible to provide adelivery assistance device, a delivery assistance method, and anon-transitory computer-readable computer medium storing a deliveryassistance program capable of suppressing redelivery in a deliveryservice in which the inside of a vehicle or the like used by the usercan be designated as the delivery destination of the luggage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configurationof an authentication key management system;

FIG. 2 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding locking and unlocking of a vehicle in the authentication keymanagement system;

FIG. 3 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a key sharing service in the authentication key managementsystem;

FIG. 4 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a trunk delivery service in the authentication key managementsystem;

FIG. 5 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a consumer to consumer (C2C) car sharing service in theauthentication key management system;

FIG. 6 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a business to consumer (B2C) car sharing service in theauthentication key management system;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing an example of a deliverydestination candidate registration process of a delivery managementserver;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart schematically showing another example of adelivery destination candidate registration process of a deliverymanagement server;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart schematically showing still another example of adelivery destination candidate registration process of a deliverymanagement server;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart schematically showing an example of analternative delivery destination decision process in a deliverymanagement server; and

FIG. 11 is a flowchart schematically showing another example of analternative delivery destination decision process in a deliverymanagement server.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to thedrawings.

Overall Configuration of Key Information Management System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an overallconfiguration of a key information management system according to theembodiment.

An authentication key management system 1 includes a vehicle 10, amobile terminal 20, a center server 30, and a service management server40.

The vehicle 10 can perform wireless communication (hereinafter referredto as “near field communication”) with the mobile terminal 20 at arelatively short distance (a distance that allows communication betweenthe inside of a vehicle cabin and the outside of the vehicle cabin)according to a predetermined communication standard. The vehicle 10 is atarget on which locking and unlocking of doors and activation (ignitionon) of the vehicle 10 are performed based on transmission signals (anauthentication request, a locking request, and an unlocking request tobe described below) from the mobile terminal 20. The door of the vehicle10 may include not only a door for getting on and off, but also a doorfor luggage (for example, a trunk lid or a back door) for accessing atrunk (a luggage room). The ignition on (IG-ON) of the vehicle 10 mayinclude ON of a power supply to an electric motor in the vehicle 10using the electric motor as a main power source, in addition to startupof an engine in the vehicle 10 using the engine as a main power source.Hereinafter, in the embodiment, description will be given on the premisethat the vehicle 10 includes an engine 117 to be described below as amain power source, the activation (IG-ON) of the vehicle 10 correspondsto startup of the engine 117, and stopping (IG-OFF) of the vehicle 10corresponds to stopping of the engine 117.

The vehicle 10 is communicably connected to the center server 30 over apredetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phone networkor an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations). The vehicle 10 transmits position information to thecenter server 30, as described below.

The vehicle 10 includes a vehicle 10A owned by an individual and avehicle 10B owned by a company providing a business to consumer (B2C)car sharing service.

The mobile terminal 20 is communicably connected to the center server 30over a predetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phonenetwork or an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations). The mobile terminal 20 can unlock or lock the vehicle 10by acquiring authentication key information (an example of keyinformation. The authentication key information is hereinafter referredto as “authentication key”) distributed from the center server 30 andtransmitting the acquired authentication key to the vehicle 10 throughrelatively short distance wireless communication according to apredetermined manipulation of the user. The mobile terminal 20 may be,for example, a general-purpose mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tabletterminal. As will be described below, a predetermined applicationprogram (hereinafter referred to as a “key application”) installed inthe built-in processing device 23 is activated, and thereby, theabove-described function may be realized. The mobile terminal 20 may bea dedicated mobile terminal specialized for unlocking of the doors ofthe vehicle 10 and activation of the vehicle 10 by acquiring theauthentication key from the center server 30 and using the acquiredauthentication key. The mobile terminal 20 includes mobile terminals20Aa to 20Ad corresponding to the vehicle 10A and a mobile terminal 20Bcorresponding to the vehicle 10B.

The mobile terminal 20Aa is a mobile terminal carried by an owner(hereinafter referred to as an “owner user”) among regular users of thevehicle 10A (hereinafter referred to as “regular users”). The mobileterminal 20Aa may bidirectionally communicate with the mobile terminal20Ab through wireless communication at a relatively short distance.

The mobile terminal 20Ab is a mobile terminal carried by a regular userother than the owner user of the vehicle 10A (for example, including afamily member of the owner user and a close friend of the owner user.The regular user is hereinafter referred to as a “sub-user”).

The sub-user may include a user who does not drive the vehicle 10A or auser who cannot drive (for example, an owner user's child under 18 yearsof age). This is because, for example, when solely a trunk deliveryservice to be described below is used, the regular user does not need todrive the vehicle 10A.

The mobile terminal 20Ac is carried by a deliverer of a company thatprovides a trunk delivery service to be described below (hereinaftersimply referred to as a “delivery company”). The mobile terminal 20Ac iscommunicably connected to the center server 30 and a delivery managementserver 50 to be described below over a predetermined communicationnetwork (for example, a mobile phone network or an Internet network inwhich a plurality of base stations is terminations).

The mobile terminal 20Ad is a mobile terminal carried by a borrower ofthe vehicle 10A in a consumer to consumer (C2C) car sharing service tobe described below. The mobile terminal 20Ad is communicably connectedto the center server 30 and a C2C car sharing management server 70 to bedescribed below over the predetermined communication network (forexample, a mobile phone network or an Internet network in which aplurality of base stations is terminations).

The mobile terminal 20B is a mobile terminal carried by the borrower ofthe vehicle 10B in a B2C car sharing service to be described below. Themobile terminal 20B is communicably connected to the center server 30and a B2C car sharing management server 80 to be described below overthe predetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phonenetwork or an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations).

The center server 30 is communicably connected to the vehicle 10, themobile terminal 20, and the service management server 40.

The center server 30 manages issuance of an authentication key of thevehicle 10. For example, the center server 30 issues the authenticationkey according to a predetermined condition and distributes theauthentication key to the mobile terminal 20.

The center server 30 acquires position information of the vehicle 10from the vehicle 10. Accordingly, the center server 30 can recognize theposition of the vehicle 10.

The center server 30 operates the car sharing service for sharing thevehicle 10A among a plurality of regular users including the owner userof the vehicle 10A. Specifically, the center server 30 operates aservice for sharing the authentication key of the vehicle 10A that eachof a plurality of pre-registered regular users including the owner usercan acquire in the mobile terminal 20 of the regular user (the mobileterminals 20Aa, 20Ab) (a key sharing service).

The center server 30 performs a registration process (a use registrationprocess) of allowing the regular user of the vehicle 10A to use aservice for using the vehicle 10A (a key sharing service, a trunkdelivery service, a C2C car sharing service, or the like). Specifically,the center server 30 registers an authority to distribute theauthentication key to the predetermined mobile terminal 20 (hereinafterreferred to as an “authentication key arrangement authority”) by a keysharing management unit 327 or a service management server 40 to bedescribed below transmitting an authentication key arrangement requestto be described below in order for the regular user of the vehicle 10Ato use the service for using the vehicle 10A.

The center server 30 manages a use situation of the vehicle 10A througha plurality of services (that is, a plurality of companies) through atrunk delivery service, a C2C car sharing service, and the like to bedescribed below.

The service management server 40 operates and manages various servicesthat are provided using the vehicle 10. The service management server 40includes a delivery management server 50 and an electronic commerce (EC)server 60 corresponding to the trunk delivery service, a C2C car sharingmanagement server 70 corresponding to the C2C car sharing service, a B2Ccar sharing management server 80 corresponding to the B2C car sharingservice.

The trunk delivery service may include a delivery service in which aproduct ordered at an EC site to be described below is a deliverytarget, and a delivery service in which a product other than the productordered at the EC site is a delivery target. For example, the trunkdelivery service in which the product other than the product ordered atthe EC site is the delivery target is a service in which the regularuser of the vehicle 10A can change a delivery destination to the trunkof the vehicle 10A when there is a notification indicating that luggagedestined for a house is scheduled to be delivered, from the deliverymanagement server 50 to the regular user of the vehicle 10A through ane-mail, an account of social networking service (SNS), or a specificapplication program activated at mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab.Hereinafter, in the embodiment, description will be given while focusingon the trunk delivery service in which the product ordered at the ECsite is the delivery target. An operation of each configuration relatedto the trunk delivery service to be described below can be appropriatelyapplied to an operation of each configuration in the trunk deliveryservice in which the product other than the product ordered at the ECsite is the delivery target.

The delivery management server 50 is communicably connected to themobile terminal 20Ac and the center server 30 over a predeterminedcommunication network, and performs an operation and management of adistribution system related to the trunk delivery service from receptionof the luggage to the delivery of the luggage to the trunk of thevehicle 10A.

A delivery company operating the delivery management server 50 mayprovide the regular user of the vehicle 10A with a delivery service inwhich a vehicle cabin other than the trunk of the vehicle 10A can bedesignated as a delivery destination in place of the trunk of thevehicle 10A or in addition to the trunk of the vehicle 10A. Hereinafter,the delivery service in which the vehicle cabin (that is, the inside ofthe vehicle 10A) including the trunk of the vehicle 10A can bedesignated as the delivery destination is referred to as a “vehiclecabin delivery service”. The delivery company operating the deliverymanagement server 50 may provide the regular user of the vehicle 10Awith a collection service in which the vehicle cabin including the trunkcan be designated as a luggage collection source (hereinafter referredto as “vehicle cabin collection service”), as well as the vehicle cabindelivery service. That is, the delivery management server 50 may performan operation and management of the vehicle cabin collection service inplace of the vehicle cabin delivery service or in addition to thevehicle cabin delivery service. In the above-described case, the luggagethat is a luggage collection target may be a product (that is, a productpurchased at the EC site) returning to an operating company of the ECsite corresponding to the EC server 60 (or a store opened at the ECsite) or may be luggage for delivery not related to the EC site. Thevehicle cabin collection service may be realized as a collection servicewhen a company (for example, a company for cleaning) that provides aservice in a form of temporarily keeping products from a consumer keepsluggage from the regular user of the vehicle 10A. In the above-describedcase, a cleaning company or the like may provide a collection managementserver that operates and manages the vehicle cabin collection service,which can be included in the service management server 40, as in thedelivery management server 50. That is, the collection management servermay be provided, in place of the delivery management server 50 or inaddition to the delivery management server 50. A recovery service inwhich the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A can be designated as arecovery source of articles that are recovery targets (hereinafterreferred to as a “vehicle cabin recovery service”) may be provided tothe regular user of the vehicle 10A by a company that provides a servicein a form of recovering predetermined articles (articles such as wasteor a second-hand book desired to be purchased) from consumers (forexample, a waste collection company or an antique purchase company). Inthe above-described case, a recovery management server that operates andmanages the trunk recovery service, which may be included in the servicemanagement server 40, may be provided by a waste recovery company or thelike, similar to the delivery management server 50. That is, therecovery management server may be provided, in place of the deliverymanagement server 50 or in addition to the delivery management server50.

The EC server 60 is communicably connected to the center server 30 andthe delivery management server 50 over a predetermined communicationnetwork, and operates a predetermined website (an EC site) for sellingproducts or services. More specifically, the EC server 60 displays thetrunk of the vehicle 10A as an option of the delivery destination on anorder screen of the EC site, for regular users of the vehicle 10A and adelivery company (a delivery company corresponding to the deliverymanagement server 50) that have been registered in advance. Accordingly,the regular user of the vehicle 10A can have the purchased productdelivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A even when the regular user isabsent at a house.

The C2C car sharing management server 70 is communicably connected tothe mobile terminal 20Ad and the center server 30, and performs anoperation and management of the C2C car sharing service that assists inlending and borrowing of the vehicle 10A between individuals. Forexample, the C2C car sharing management server 70 performs an operationand management of a C2C car sharing service such as reception ofregistration of a date and time when the vehicle 10A can be lent by theowner user, reception of reservation of use from a person who wants toborrow the vehicle 10A, and arrangement of the authentication key of thevehicle 10A. The C2C car sharing management server 70 may operate andmanage the C2C trunk sharing service in an aspect in which the inside ofthe vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A owned by an individual or the trunkthereof is lent as a temporary luggage storage place, a luggage deliverydestination, or the like.

The B2C car sharing management server 80 is communicably connected tothe mobile terminal 20B and the center server 30, and performs anoperation and management of the B2C car sharing service in which thevehicle 10B owned by a predetermined company (for example, a provider ofthe B2C car sharing service) is lent in an aspect in which the vehicle10B can be shared among a plurality of general consumers. For example,the B2C car sharing management server 80 performs an operation andmanagement of the B2C car sharing service such as reception ofreservation of use of the vehicle 10B, and arrangement of a parkingposition of the vehicle 10B and the authentication key of the vehicle10B. The B2C car sharing management server 80 may operate and manage theB2C trunk sharing service in an aspect in which the inside of thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10B or the trunk is lent as a temporaryluggage storage space or a luggage delivery destination.

A company car use management server that operates a car sharing service(a company car use management service) in which an employee of a companyis a borrower, with the vehicle 10 as a company car of the company beinga reservation of use target, may be included in the service managementserver 40, instead of the B2C car sharing management server 80 or inaddition to the B2C car sharing management server 80. In theabove-described case, when there is an idle time period of the vehicle10, which is the company car, the C2C car sharing management server 70may operate the C2C car sharing service, with the vehicle 10 as acompany car being a borrowing target. The delivery management server 50and the EC server 60 may operate the trunk delivery service in which adelivery destination of luggage to be delivered to a company can bedesignated as a trunk of the vehicle 10 that is a company car of thecompany.

Details of Configuration Regarding Locking, Unlocking, and Activation ofVehicle

A configuration regarding locking, unlocking, and activation of vehicle10 in the authentication key management system 1 will be described withreference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding locking, unlocking, and activation of the vehicle 10 in theauthentication key management system 1. The vehicle 10 includes alocking, unlocking and activation device 11, a key unit 12, a globalpositioning system (GPS) module 13, and a data communication module(DCM) 14.

The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 is attached to thevehicle 10 and performs unlocking and locking of the doors of thevehicle 10 according to a locking signal and an unlocking signal to betransmitted as radio waves in a radio frequency (RF) band (for example,300 MHz to 3 GHz) (hereinafter referred to as “RF radio waves”) from thekey unit 12. The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 activatesthe vehicle 10 according to exchange using radio waves in a lowfrequency (LF) band (for example, 30 Hz to 300 kHz) (hereinafterreferred to as “LF radio waves”) and RF radio waves with the key unitusing a pressing manipulation of an activation switch (not illustrated)provided in the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10 as a trigger. Thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11 includes an LF radio wavetransmitter 111, an RF radio wave receiver 112, a collating electroniccontrol unit (ECU) 113, a body ECU 114, a door lock motor 115, an engineECU 116, and an engine 117 as a driving power source of the vehicle 10.

The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 operates with powersupplied from an auxiliary battery (not illustrated) mounted on thevehicle 10.

The LF radio wave transmitter 111 is embedded into, for example, acenter console or a door handle in the vehicle cabin, and transmits LFradio waves under the control of the collating ECU 113.

The RF radio wave receiver 112 is provided, for example, in a trim of aluggage room of the vehicle 10 and receives RF radio waves under thecontrol of the collating ECU 113.

The collating ECU 113 is an electronic control unit that controlslocking and unlocking of the doors of the vehicle 10 and activation ofthe vehicle 10 based on exchange of signals with the key unit 12. Thecollating ECU 113 is realized by any hardware, any software, or acombination of any hardware and any software. For example, the collatingECU 113 is configured mainly of a microcomputer includes a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory(ROM), an auxiliary storage device, a real time clock (RTC), and acommunication interface. The collating ECU 113 realizes various controlprocesses by executing various programs stored in the ROM or theauxiliary storage device on the CPU. Hereinafter, the same applies tothe key ECU 124 to be described below.

The collating ECU 113 receives an unlocking signal and a locking signaltransmitted as RF radio waves from the key unit 12 using the RF radiowave receiver 112.

When the collating ECU 113 receives the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal, the collating ECU 113 performs authentication of a transmissionsource (the key unit 12) of the unlocking signal or the locking signalbased on key information included in the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal (hereinafter referred to as “internal key information”). Forexample, when the internal key information registered in an internalmemory such as an auxiliary storage device in advance matches theinternal key information included in the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal, the collating ECU 113 determines that the authentication issuccessful, and when the internal key information registered in theinternal memory such as the auxiliary storage device in advance does notmatch the internal key information included in the unlocking signal orthe locking signal, the collating ECU 113 determines that theauthentication fails.

For example, the collating ECU 113 may transmit LF radio waves includinga “challenge” created in a predetermined method using the internal keyinformation of the internal memory from the LF radio wave transmitter111 to the key unit 12 and perform challenge response authenticationbased on a “response” replied from the key unit 12, which is receivedfrom the RF radio wave receiver 112.

When the authentication is successful, the collating ECU 113 transmitsan unlocking command (upon reception of the unlocking signal) or alocking command (upon reception of the locking signal) to the body ECU114 via an in-vehicle network such as a controller area network (CAN).

As will be described below, in the unlocking signal, solely some of thedoors of the vehicle 10 may be designated as unlocked targets. In theabove-described case, the collating ECU 113 designates the door as anunlocked target in the unlocking command. Accordingly, the body ECU 114can operate solely the door lock motor 115 corresponding to somedesignated doors and unlock solely some doors.

When the above-described activation switch is pressed, the collating ECU113 performs authentication of the key unit 12 by exchanging signalswith the key unit 12 using the LF radio wave transmitter 111 and the RFradio wave receiver 112.

For example, the collating ECU 113 transmits a request signal in an LFband from the LF radio wave transmitter 111 to the key unit 12 torequest reply of the internal key information. When a response signalincluding the internal key information is received from the key unit 12by the RF radio wave receiver 112, the collating ECU 113 determinesauthentication success or authentication failure based on matchingbetween the internal key information registered in the internal memoryin advance and the internal key information included in the responsesignal, as in the case of locking and unlocking the doors.

For example, the collating ECU 113 may perform challenge responseauthentication, as in the case of locking and unlocking of doors.

When the authentication has succeeded, the collating ECU 113 transmits astartup command of the engine 117 to the engine ECU 116 through thein-vehicle network such as the CAN.

The body ECU 114 is an electronic control unit that performs operationcontrol of the door lock motor 115 that is communicably connected via aone-to-one communication line or the like. The body ECU 114 outputs acontrol command to cause the door lock motor 115 to perform an unlockingoperation according to the unlocking command from the collating ECU 113.The body ECU 114 outputs a control command to cause the door lock motor115 to perform a locking operation according to the locking command fromthe collating ECU 113.

The door lock motor 115 is a known electric actuator that unlocks andlocks the doors of the vehicle 10 according to the control command fromthe body ECU 114.

The engine ECU 116 is an electronic control unit that drives andcontrols the engine 117. Specifically, the engine ECU 116 drives andcontrols various actuators such as a starter or an injector, which aremounted on the engine 117. When the startup command is input from thecollating ECU 113, the engine ECU 116 outputs a control command tovarious actuators such as a starter or an injector of the engine 117 tostart up the engine 117.

The key unit 12 is disposed in the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10 andtransmits the unlocking signal and the locking signal as RF radio wavesto the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to of theunlocking request and the locking request transmitted from the mobileterminal 20. The key unit 12 performs exchange of signals with thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to the signal inthe LF band transmitted from the locking, unlocking and activationdevice 11 when the activation switch provided in the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10 is pressed. The key unit 12 includes an LF radio wavereceiver 121, an RF radio wave transmitter 122, a communication device123, and a key ECU 124.

The key unit 12 may be disposed at a position (for example, a glove box,or the inside of a center console box) at which it is difficult forusers seated on respective seats of the vehicle 10 to visually recognizethe key unit 12. The key unit 12 may be fixed or may not be fixed to thevehicle 10. The key unit 12 may be operated by a built-in button batteryor the like or may be operated by power supplied from an auxiliarybattery mounted on the vehicle 10.

The LF radio wave receiver 121 receives the LF radio waves under thecontrol of the key ECU 124.

The RF radio wave transmitter 122 transmits RF radio waves under thecontrol of the key ECU 124.

The communication device 123 is any device that performs near fieldcommunication with the mobile terminal 20 under the control of the keyECU 124. The communication device 123 may be, for example, a BLEcommunication module that performs communication with the mobileterminal 20 in compliance with a Bluetooth (registered trademark) lowenergy (BLE) communication standard. Hereinafter, description will begiven on the premise that a communication standard adopted in thecommunication device 123 conforms to BLE communication.

The communication device 123 may be a communication device conforming toa short-range communication standard having a very short communicabledistance, such as a near field communication (NFC) standard. In theabove-described case, the communication device 123 may be built, forexample, at a position (for example, the inside of the door handle)close to a body surface of the vehicle 10 outside the vehicle cabin.Accordingly, the key unit 12 (the key ECU 124) can communicate with themobile terminal 20 outside the vehicle cabin even when the communicabledistance of the communication device 123 is very short.

The key ECU 124 is an electronic control unit that performs a controlprocess of transmitting a locking signal and an unlocking signal to thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to the unlockingrequest and the locking request received from the mobile terminal 20.

The key ECU 124 receives an authentication request including anauthentication key associated with the key unit 12 from the mobileterminal 20 via the communication device 123.

When the authentication request including the authentication keyassociated with the key unit 12 is received from the mobile terminal 20,the key ECU 124 performs authentication of the mobile terminal 20 basedon the authentication key. When the authentication has been successful,the key ECU 124 restores the internal key information stored in aninternal memory such as an auxiliary storage device to a usable state.The internal key information is stored in a state that the internal keyinformation cannot be used for authentication in the locking, unlockingand activation device 11, for example, due to a state in which theinternal key information is not accessible or a state in which theinternal key information has been encrypted. Therefore, when theauthentication of the mobile terminal 20 has been successful, the keyECU 124, for example, performs changing of an authority to access theinternal memory for changing the key information to an accessible state,or decodes an encrypted internal key information based on theauthentication key. Accordingly, the key ECU 124 can access the internalkey information which is not normally accessible to transmit anunlocking signal or a locking signal including the internal keyinformation to the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 ortransmit an unlocking signal or a locking signal including decodedinternal key information to the locking, unlocking and activation device11. Therefore, the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 canperform appropriate authentication based on the internal key informationincluded in the unlocking signal and the locking signal. Even when asituation in which a malicious third party illegally obtains the keyunit 12 occurs, the internal key information in the key unit 12, forexample, is not accessible or is encrypted, occurrence of theft of thevehicle 10 can be suppressed.

The key ECU 124 receives the unlocking request and the locking requestfrom the mobile terminal 20 via the communication device 123. When theauthentication of the mobile terminal 20 is successful (specifically, astate in which the BLE communication has been established is kept afterthe authentication of the mobile terminal 20 has been successful) andthe key ECU 124 has received the unlocking request or the lockingrequest from the mobile terminal 20, the key ECU 124 transmits theunlocking signal or the locking signal including locking and unlockingkey information to the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 viathe RF radio wave transmitter 122.

Accordingly, unlocking or locking of the doors of the vehicle 10 isrealized after an authentication process in the locking, unlocking andactivation device 11.

As described above, the key ECU 124 performs exchange of signals withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to a signal inthe LF band transmitted from the locking, unlocking and activationdevice 11 when the activation switch provided in the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10 is pressed.

For example, when the request signal is received from the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 by the LF radio wave receiver 121,the key ECU 124 transmits a response signal including the internal keyinformation stored in the internal memory or the like to the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 via the RF radio wave transmitter122.

For example, when the LF radio waves including the “challenge” arereceived from the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 by the LFradio wave receiver 121, the key ECU 124 generates a “response” based onthe internal key information and transmits the response to the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 via the RF radio wave transmitter122.

Accordingly, after the authentication process in the locking, unlockingand activation device 11, the startup of the engine 117 is realized.

An authority regarding a function of locking, unlocking, or activatingthe vehicle 10 imparted by the center server 30 may be defined in theauthentication key.

For example, when the authentication key has solely the authority tounlock some of the doors of the vehicle 10, the key ECU 124 transmits anunlocking signal including information for designating the door to beunlocked to the key unit 12 via the RF radio wave transmitter 122.Accordingly, solely some of the doors of the vehicle 10 can be unlockedas described above.

For example, when the authentication key does not have the authority toactivate the engine 117, the key ECU 124 may not perform exchange withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 even when the signal inthe LF band from the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 basedon a pressing manipulation of the activation switch is received by theLF radio wave receiver 121. Accordingly, it is possible to prohibit theactivation of the engine 117 according to the authority of theauthentication key.

The GPS module 13 receives GPS signals transmitted from three or moresatellites and, desirably, four or more satellites over the vehicle 10,and measures a position of the vehicle 10. The GPS module 13 iscommunicably connected to the DCM 14 or the like via a one-to-onecommunication line or an in-vehicle network such as a CAN, and themeasured position information of the vehicle 10 is input to the DCM 14or the like.

The DCM 14 is a communication device that bidirectionally communicateswith the center server 30 over a predetermined communication network.The DCM 14 transmits current position information of the vehicle 10input from the GPS module 13 to the center server 30 at a predefinedtiming or according to a request from the center server 30, or the like.The DCM 14 transmits, to the center server 30, various types of vehicleinformation (for example, information indicating that unlocking of thedoor of the vehicle 10 or activation of the vehicle 10 is performedbased on the authentication key) that can be acquired over an in-vehiclenetwork such as a CAN at a predefined timing or according to a requestfrom the center server 30 or the like.

The mobile terminal 20 includes a communication device 21, acommunication device 22, a processing device 23, and a touch paneldisplay (hereinafter simply referred to as a “display”) 24.

The communication device 21 is any device that performs near fieldcommunication with the mobile terminal 20 according to the samecommunication standard as that of the communication device 123. Asdescribed above, in the case of the embodiment, the communication device21 is, for example, a BLE communication module.

The communication device 22 is any device that communicates with thecenter server 30, the service management server 40, or the like over apredetermined communication network. The communication device 22 is amobile communication module corresponding to a communication standardsuch as Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4th Generation (4G), or 5thGeneration (5G).

The processing device 23 performs various control processes in themobile terminal 20. The functions of the processing device 23 may berealized by any hardware, any software, or a combination of any hardwareand any software, and includes for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, anauxiliary storage device, an RTC, and various interfaces forcommunication. The processing device 23 includes, for example, acommunication processing unit 231, a communication processing unit 232,an authentication key acquisition unit 233, an authentication requestunit 234, and a locking and unlocking request unit 235 as functionalunits that are realized by executing one or more programs stored in theROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. The processing device 23includes, for example, a storage unit 230 that is realized as a storagearea in the auxiliary storage device, and a process of storing variouspieces of data in the storage unit 230 is realized by a predeterminedprogram stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device.

The communication processing unit 231 performs bidirectional near fieldcommunication with the key unit 12 using the communication device 21 andperforms transmission and reception of various signals.

The communication processing unit 232 connects to the predeterminedcommunication network using the communication device 22 and transmitsand receives various signals such as a data signal or a control signalto and from the center server 30, the service management server 40, andthe like.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 acquires the authenticationkey from the center server 30, for example, according to a predeterminedmanipulation of the user with respect to a predetermined graphical userinterface (GUI) displayed on the display 24, and stores the acquiredauthentication key in the storage unit 230. Hereinafter, the descriptionwill be given on the premise that various manipulations with respect tothe mobile terminal 20 are performed by a manipulation with respect tothe GUI displayed on the display 24 in conjunction with the operation ofthe key application.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobileterminal 20Aa transmits an authentication key acquisition request to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 232. Accordingly,the center server 30 receives the authentication key acquisitionrequest, and issues the authentication key when the center server 30determines that the authentication key acquisition request is a regularauthentication key acquisition request. The authentication keyacquisition unit 233 acquires the authentication key distributed fromthe center server 30 via the communication processing unit 232.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobileterminal 20Ab acquires the authentication key distributed from thecenter server 30 to the mobile terminal 20Ab via the communicationprocessing unit 232 according to a key sharing request (to be describedbelow) transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aa to the center server30.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminal 20Abmay transmit the authentication key acquisition request by itself to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 232. In theabove-described case, when the center server 30 receives theauthentication key acquisition request from the mobile terminal 20Ab,the center server 30 may perform an inquiry about whether or not topermit distribution of the authentication key to the mobile terminal20Aa of the owner user.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of each of themobile terminals 20Ac, 20Ad, and 20B transmits an authentication keyacquisition request to the delivery management server 50, the C2C carsharing management server 70, and the B2C car sharing management server80 to request acquisition of the authentication key. Accordingly, thedelivery management server 50, the C2C car sharing management server 70,and the B2C car sharing management server 80 transmit an authenticationkey arrangement request to the center server 30 according to receptionof the authentication key acquisition request, and the center server 30issues the authentication key according to reception of theauthentication key arrangement request. The authentication keyacquisition unit 233 acquires an authentication key that is distributedfrom the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 232.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminals20Ac, 20Ad, and 20B may transmit the authentication key acquisitionrequest to the center server 30 via the communication processing unit232. In the above-described case, the center server 30 may perform aninquiry of the delivery management server 50, the C2C car sharingmanagement server 70, and the B2C car sharing management server 80 todetermine whether or not the authentication key acquisition request is aregular authentication key acquisition request.

The authentication request unit 234 transmits an authentication requestto the key unit 12 of the vehicle 10 via the communication processingunit 231 to request authentication of the mobile terminal 20 serving asa remote manipulation unit for locking and unlocking the doors of thevehicle 10. For example, when the authentication request unit 234 findsa key unit corresponding to the authentication key, and specifically,when an advertising packet corresponding to the key unit 12 is receivedby the communication processing unit 231, the authentication requestunit 234 may transmit the authentication request to the key unit 12. Forexample, the authentication request unit 234 may transmit theauthentication request to the key unit 12 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the user.

The locking and unlocking request unit 235 transmits an unlockingrequest including an authentication key or a locking request includingthe authentication key to the key unit 12 via the communicationprocessing unit 231 according to the predetermined manipulation by theuser. Accordingly, even when the unlocking request or the lockingrequest has been transmitted to the key unit 12 before theauthentication request is transmitted by the authentication request unit234, locking and unlocking of the door of the vehicle 10 based on theauthentication process in the key unit 12 can be realized. For example,an unlocking button for requesting unlocking of the vehicle 10 and alocking button for requesting locking of the vehicle 10 may be drawn ina GUI serving as a manipulation screen of the display 24, a lockingrequest may be transmitted when the locking button is touched, and anunlocking request may be transmitted when the unlocking button istouched. The locking request and the unlocking request may betransmitted by a manipulation with respect to a predeterminedmanipulation unit by hardware provided in the mobile terminal 20.

For example, the functions of the authentication key acquisition unit233, the authentication request unit 234, and the locking and unlockingrequest unit 235 may be available to the user by a predeterminedapplication program installed in the ROM of the processing device 23,the auxiliary storage device, or the like being activated. Hereinafter,the description will be given on the premise that the functions of theauthentication key acquisition unit 233, the authentication request unit234, and the locking and unlocking request unit 235 of the processingdevice 23 are available to the user by the key application alreadyinstalled in the processing device 23 (the auxiliary storage device orthe ROM) being activated.

The center server 30 includes a communication device 31 and a processingdevice 32.

The functions of the center server 30 may be shared and realized by aplurality of servers. Hereinafter, the same applies to the deliverymanagement server 50, the EC server 60, the C2C car sharing managementserver 70, and the B2C car sharing management server 80.

The communication device 31 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the vehicle 10, the mobile terminal 20, andthe service management server 40 over a predetermined communicationnetwork.

The processing device 32 performs various control processes in thecenter server 30. The functions of the processing device 32 may berealized by any hardware, any software, or a combination of any hardwareand any software, and the processing device 32 is mainly configured ofone or a plurality of server computers including, for example, a CPU, aRAM, a ROM, an auxiliary storage device, an RTC, and a predeterminedcommunication interface. Hereinafter, the same applies to processingdevices 52, 62, 72, 82 to be described below of the delivery managementserver 50, the EC server 60, the C2C car sharing management server 70,and the B2C car sharing management server 80. The processing device 32includes, for example, a communication processing unit 321, a conditiondetermination unit 322, and an authentication key issuance unit 323 asfunctional units that are realized by executing one or more programsstored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. Theprocessing device 32 includes, for example, a storage unit 320 that isrealized as a storage area defined in an auxiliary storage device of aserver computer or an external storage device connected to the servercomputer, and a process in which various pieces of data are stored inthe storage unit 320 is realized by a program stored in the ROM or theauxiliary storage device. Hereinafter, the same applies to the storageunits 520, 620, 720, and 820 to be described below.

The communication processing unit 321 controls the communication device31 to perform exchange of various signals such as control signals andinformation signals with the vehicle 10, the mobile terminal 20, and theservice management server 40.

The condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestor a regular authentication key arrangement request according toreception of an authentication key acquisition request from the mobileterminal 20 or an authentication key arrangement request from theservice management server 40 received by the communication processingunit 321.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines that theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is the regular one, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 specifies a specification of the authentication key to beissued and issues an authentication key corresponding to the specifiedspecification. For example, the authentication key issuance unit 323specifies the vehicle 10 that is a target of locking and unlocking usingthe authentication key or the key unit 12 corresponding to the vehicle10. For example, the authentication key issuance unit 323 specifies theauthority of the authentication key regarding a period of time in whichthe authentication key is valid (available) and the number of times theauthentication key is available. Further, for example, theauthentication key issuance unit 323 specifies the authority of theauthentication key regarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle10, such as lockable and unlockable doors and whether or not the vehicle10 can be activated. For example, the authentication key issuance unit323 specifies the authority of the authentication key regarding thetemporary key sharing, such as whether or not the authentication key canbe shared with another mobile terminal 20 through a temporary keysharing to be described below, a period of time in which theauthentication key can be shared with the other mobile terminal 20, andthe number of times the authentication key can be shared with the othermobile terminal 20. Hereinafter, the authority of the authentication keyregarding the period of time in which the authentication key isavailable, the number of times the authentication key is available, andthe like, the authority of the authentication key regarding theunlocking or activation of the vehicle 10, and the authority of theauthentication key regarding the temporary key sharing are collectivelysimply referred to as “various authorities of the authentication key”.The authentication key issuance unit 323 distributes the authenticationkey issued to the mobile terminal 20 that is a target via thecommunication processing unit 321.

Details of Configuration Regarding Key Sharing Service

A configuration regarding the key sharing service in the authenticationkey management system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding the key sharing service in the authentication key managementsystem 1. Hereinafter, a configuration regarding the key sharing servicein the authentication key management system 1 will be mainly describedwith reference to FIG. 3, and duplicate description on the configurationoverlapping the configuration regarding locking, unlocking, andactivation of the vehicle 10 described above will be omitted as much aspossible. Hereinafter, the same applies to description of FIGS. 4 to 6.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit231, the communication processing unit 232, the authentication keyacquisition unit 233, the authentication request unit 234, and thelocking and unlocking request unit 235, as described above. Theprocessing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa further includes a userregistration request unit 236, a service use registration request unit237, a service use situation request unit 238, and a key sharing requestunit 239 as functional units that are realized by executing one or moreprograms stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU.

In the embodiment, the description will be given on the premise that thefunctions of the user registration request unit 236, the service useregistration request unit 237, the service use situation request unit238, and the key sharing request unit 239 of the mobile terminal 20Aaare available to the owner user by the key application being activatedand the user authentication based on bidirectional communication withthe center server 30 being successful. The description will be given onthe premise that the user authentication is performed by the centerserver 30 based on an identification (ID) defined for the owner user(hereinafter referred to as “owner user ID”) in advance and a passwordcorresponding to the owner user ID.

The user registration request unit 236 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user of the vehicle 10A that uses various services(the key sharing service, the trunk delivery service, the C2C carsharing service, and the like) for using the vehicle 10A, according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user. For example, the userregistration request unit 236 transmits a user registration requestincluding an owner user ID and a password and attribute information (forexample, a name, age, and relationship with the owner user) forspecifying a sub-user who is a registration target to the center server30 via the communication processing unit 232.

When a notification indicating that registration of the sub-user hasbeen completed (user registration completion notification) is receivedfrom the center server 30 by the communication processing unit 232, theuser registration request unit 236 stores an ID (hereinafter referred toas a “sub-user ID”) and a password of the sub-user included in the userregistration completion notification in the storage unit 230. In theabove-described case, the user registration request unit 236 maytransmit the sub-user ID and the password to the mobile terminal 20Abcarried by the registered sub-user via the communication processing unit231 according to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user.

The service use registration request unit 237 requests the center server30 to perform registration of use of various services for using thevehicle 10A by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user. That is, the service useregistration request unit 237 requests registration of theauthentication key arrangement authority of the key sharing managementunit 327 or the service management server 40 corresponding to variousservices for allowing regular users of the vehicle 10A to use variousservices, as described above. For example, the service use registrationrequest unit 237 transmits a service use registration request includingthe owner user ID and the password, the information for specifying thevehicle 10A to be used for various services, the information forspecifying the service that is a target, and the ID of the regular userwho uses the target service (the owner user ID or the sub-user ID) tothe center server 30 via the communication processing unit 232.Hereinafter, the owner user ID and the sub-user ID may be collectivelyreferred to as a “regular user ID”. Accordingly, the service useregistration request unit 237 can register a sub-user who uses the keysharing service in the center server 30.

The service use registration request unit 237 receives a notificationthat the use registration of the service based on the service useregistration request has been completed from at least one of the centerserver 30 and the service management server 40 through the communicationprocessing unit 232. The service use registration request unit 237causes the display 24 to display an indication that the use registrationof the specific service by the regular user of the vehicle 10A based onthe predetermined manipulation by the owner user has been completed.Accordingly, the owner user can recognize that the use registration ofthe specific service by the regular user has been completed.

The service use situation request unit 238 requests the center server 30to provide information on the use situation of various services (serviceuse situation information) including the key sharing service by theregular user of the vehicle 10A for which the use registration has beencompleted in a form corresponding to the owner user ID according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user. For example, the serviceuse situation request unit 238 transmits a service use situation requestincluding the owner user ID and the password to the center server 30 viathe communication processing unit 232. When the service use situationinformation received from the center server 30 by the communicationprocessing unit 232 is received, the service use situation request unit238 displays the service use situation information on the display 24.Accordingly, the owner user can centrally recognize the information onthe use situation of each service by each of the regular usersregistered for use in the center server 30 in an aspect in which theinformation is linked to the owner user ID.

The key sharing request unit 239 requests the center server 30 todistribute the authentication key for performing locking, unlocking oractivating of the vehicle 10A to the sub-user registered for use in thekey sharing service according to a predetermined manipulation by theowner user. For example, the key sharing request unit 239 transmits akey sharing request including an owner user ID and a password,information on the vehicle 10A that is a locking and unlocking target bythe authentication key, and information (for example, a sub-user ID) onthe sub-user that is a distribution (share) target of the authenticationkey to the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 232.When the key sharing request unit 239 transmits the key sharing request,use period information (for example, a date and time of use start and adate and time of use end) regarding a period of time in which theauthentication key set and distributed by a predetermined manipulationby the owner user is available may be included in the key sharingrequest. The key sharing request may include authority information onvarious authorities of the authentication key, such as an authority ofthe authentication key regarding a period of time in which theauthentication key is available or the number of times theauthentication key is available, an authority of the authentication keyregarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle, and an authorityof the authentication key regarding temporary key sharing to bedescribed below, which can be designated according to the predeterminedmanipulation by the owner user. Accordingly, as described below, whenthe authentication key available at the same time is shared among themobile terminals 20, the owner user can appropriately set authorityinformation such that use of the vehicle 10A by a user other than theowner user can be limited. Therefore, security of the vehicle 10A can beimproved.

The key sharing request unit 239 may set the mobile terminals 20 (thatis, at least one of the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab) of a plurality ofregular users of the vehicle 10A as distribution targets and request thecenter server 30 to distribute the authentication key of which theperiods of time in which the authentication key is available overlapaccording to the predetermined manipulation by the owner user. That is,in the key sharing request, the regular users that are authenticationkey distribution targets may be designated, or the owner users may beincluded among the regular users. In the key sharing request, the periodof time in which the authentication key is available for each of thedesignated regular users may overlap. Accordingly, the authenticationkey of the vehicle 10A available at the same time can be shared by theregular users. Therefore, for example, when a plurality of persons getson the vehicle 10A together and go out for travel, camp, or the like,each of passengers can lock and unlock the vehicle 10A without lendingand borrowing the mobile terminal 20 in which the authentication key hasbeen stored, and therefore, convenience for users can be improved.

Even when the key sharing request unit 239 may share the distributedauthentication key with another mobile terminal 20 (that is, the mobileterminal 20 in which the key application is installed) according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user (hereinafter, a sharingaspect of the authentication key will be referred to as “temporary keysharing”). In the above-described case, the other mobile terminal 20 maybe the mobile terminal 20Ab of the sub-user or may be the mobileterminal 20 of a user other than the sub-user, that is, a usertemporarily using the vehicle 10A.

For example, the key sharing request unit 239 transmits theauthentication key (more specifically, a copy of the authentication key)to another mobile terminal 20 via the communication processing unit 231.Accordingly, the owner user of the vehicle 10A can share theauthentication key with the other user even when a plurality of personssuddenly get on the vehicle 10A together and go out for traveling or thelike. It is possible to share the authentication key available at thesame time with the other mobile terminal 20 directly from the mobileterminal 20Aa. Accordingly, for example, even when the mobile terminal20Aa is at a place at which a communication situation in a wirelessmobile communication network is poor or out of a communication range,the owner user of the vehicle 10A can share the authentication key withthe other user.

In the above-described case, the key sharing request unit 239 maytransmit the authentication key of which the authority regarding theperiod of time in which the authentication key is available or thenumber of times the authentication key is available or the authorityregarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle 10A, which is setbased on the predetermined manipulation by the owner user or which isdefined in advance, has been restricted, to the other mobile terminal 20via the communication processing unit 231. Specifically, for example, anauthentication key with an authority to limit the period of time inwhich the authentication key is available or the number of times theauthentication key is available to, for example, 30 minutes or once, oran authentication key with an authority, for example, solely to lock andunlock doors for getting on and off the vehicle 10A or prohibitactivation of the vehicle 10A may be transmitted to another mobileterminal 20. Hereinafter, the same applies to the case of temporary keysharing that is performed via the center server 30. Accordingly,security of the vehicle 10A due to the temporary key sharing can beimproved.

When the temporary key sharing is performed, the key sharing requestunit 239 may cause the authentication key to be distributed from thecenter server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20, as in the case of anormal key sharing. In the above-described case, the key sharing requestunit 239 may transmit a temporary key sharing request includinginformation (for example, an issued ID embedded in the authenticationkey) for specifying the distributed authentication key and informationfor designating the other mobile terminal 20 that is a distributiontarget to the center server 30 via the communication processing unit232, to cause the authentication key of the vehicle 10A to bedistributed from the center server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20.

For example, when the other mobile terminal 20 is the mobile terminal20Ab of the sub-user, the key sharing request unit 239 may transmit atemporary key sharing request including the sub-user ID to the centerserver 30 via the communication processing unit 232.

For example, the key sharing request unit 239 acquires predeterminedidentification information (for example, a quick response (QR) code(registered trademark) corresponding to the user of another mobileterminal 20 registered as a user installing the key application in thecenter server 30) from the other mobile terminal 20 via thecommunication processing unit 231. The key sharing request unit 239 maytransmit a temporary key sharing request for designating another mobileterminal 20 specified based on the identification information as adistribution target, to the center server 30.

The mobile terminal 20Aa may acquire the identification informationusing another method. For example, the mobile terminal 20Aa may acquireidentification information corresponding to the user of the other mobileterminal 20 in an aspect in which the identification informationdisplayed on the display 24 of the other mobile terminal 20 isrecognized using a mounted camera function. For example, the mobileterminal 20Aa may acquire the identification information transmittedfrom the user of the other mobile terminal 20 to a mail address or anaccount of an SNS of the owner user.

For example, according to a predetermined manipulation by the owneruser, the key sharing request unit 239 transmits a candidate terminalinformation request for requesting a candidate terminal information on acandidate terminal that is a candidate for the other mobile terminal 20present around a current position of the mobile terminal 20Aa to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 232. When thecandidate terminal information is received from the center server 30 bythe communication processing unit 232, the key sharing request unit 239causes the display 24 to display the candidate terminal information.When the candidate terminal information is displayed on the display 24,information for specifying a candidate terminal in which a specificmanipulation or operation is performed among candidate terminals may beincluded in the candidate terminal information replied from the centerserver 30. Accordingly, the owner user of the vehicle 10A can specifyanother mobile terminal 20 from among the candidate terminals displayedon the display 24 of the mobile terminal 20Aa by the user of the othermobile terminal 20 as a key sharing target performing a specificmanipulation or operation with respect to the mobile terminal 20. Thekey sharing request unit 239 may transmit a temporary key sharingrequest for designating the other mobile terminal 20 specified fromamong the candidate terminals as a distribution target to the centerserver 30, according to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user.

The key sharing request unit 239 may activate the key applicationaccording to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user to transmitlink information according to a uniform resource locator (URL) schemefor allowing the other mobile terminal 20 to acquire the authenticationkey from the center server 30 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “linkinformation”) to a mail address or an account of an SNS of the user ofthe other mobile terminal 20 via the communication processing unit 232.In the above-described case, the key sharing request unit 239 transmitsa temporary key sharing request for designating the acquiredauthentication key to the center server 30 via the communicationprocessing unit 232 according to a predetermined manipulation by theowner user, and acquires the link information replied from the centerserver 30 according to the temporary key sharing request. Accordingly,the key sharing request unit 239 can cause the authentication key to bedistributed from the center server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20.

The temporary key sharing may be executed from the mobile terminal 20Abof the sub-user to which the authentication key has already beendistributed. That is, a function regarding the temporary key sharing inthe key sharing request unit 239 may be included in a function of thekey application that is installed in the processing device 23 of themobile terminal 20Ab of the sub-user. Accordingly, it is not needed tolend and borrow the mobile terminal 20Ab of the sub-user who hasacquired the authentication key even when a plurality of personsincluding no owner user get on the vehicle 10A together, and conveniencefor the sub-user of the vehicle 10A can be further improved.Hereinafter, description will be given on the premise that the temporarykey sharing can be performed from the mobile terminal 20Ab of thesub-user.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322,the authentication key issuance unit 323, and the storage unit 320, asdescribed above. The processing device 32 of the center server 30further includes a position information management unit 324, a schedulemanagement unit 325, a registration management unit 326, and a keysharing management unit 327.

When the authentication key acquisition request has been received fromthe mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab by the communication processing unit321, the condition determination unit 322 performs authentication basedon the regular user ID and the password included in the authenticationkey acquisition request. For example, the condition determination unit322 collates the regular user ID and password registered in the storageunit 320 with the regular user ID and password included in theauthentication key acquisition request, and determines that theauthentication is successful, that is, the authentication keyacquisition request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestwhen both match.

The condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request sent from the key sharingmanagement unit 327 to be described below is a regular authenticationkey arrangement request. For example, when the authentication issuccessful based on authentication information (for example, the ID andthe password) included in the authentication key arrangement requestfrom the key sharing management unit 327, the condition determinationunit 322 may determine that the authentication key arrangement requestis a regular authentication key arrangement request.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines that theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestor a regular authentication key arrangement request, the authenticationkey issuance unit 323 issues the authentication key and distributes theauthentication key to the mobile terminal 20 via the communicationprocessing unit 321.

The position information management unit 324 acquires the positioninformation from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit321 and monitors the position information of the vehicle 10A in realtime to recognize a movement situation of the vehicle 10A. Accordingly,for example, the position information management unit 324 can notify theowner user of the position information of the vehicle 10A lent to thesub-user via the communication processing unit 321. For example, theposition information management unit 324 can notify the mobile terminal20Ab of the sub-user of information such as whether or not the vehicle10A scheduled to be lent to the sub-user is directed to a designatedposition (for example, a house) or a reference for returning, via thecommunication processing unit 321.

The schedule management unit 325 manages the use situation of thevehicle 10A regarding various services. For example, the schedulemanagement unit 325 periodically acquires a use schedule of the vehicle10 by the key sharing service and, specifically, information on a dateand time on which the authentication key distributed by the key sharingservice is available, from the key sharing management unit 327. Theschedule management unit 325 acquires the use schedule of the vehicle10A by each of the trunk delivery service and the C2C car sharingservice from the delivery management server 50 and the C2C car sharingmanagement server 70 via the communication processing unit 321. Theschedule management unit 325 generates information on the use scheduleof the vehicle 10A (vehicle use schedule information) over a pluralityof services based on the acquired use schedule of the vehicle 10Aregarding the various services, and updates the vehicle use scheduleinformation stored in the storage unit 320.

The registration management unit 326 performs registration of theregular user (the sub-user) who uses various services according to theuser registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of theowner user by the communication processing unit 321. For example, theregistration management unit 326 collates the owner user ID and passwordincluded in the user registration request from the mobile terminal 20Aawith the owner user ID and password stored in the storage unit 320, anddetermines that the user registration request is a regular userregistration request when both match. That is, the registrationmanagement unit 326 determines that the authentication is successful.The registration management unit 326 registers the sub-user ID includedin the regular user registration request in a user service registrationinformation database (DB) in the storage unit 320 as the regular userwho can use various services.

The registration management unit 326 performs registration of use ofvarious services by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to theservice use registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aaof the owner user by the communication processing unit 321. That is,according to the service use registration request, the registrationmanagement unit 326 performs registration of an authentication keyarrangement authority of the key sharing management unit 327 or theservice management server 40 corresponding to various services to allowthe user of the vehicle 10A to use various services. For example, theregistration management unit 326 performs the same authenticationprocess as described above based on the owner user ID and the passwordincluded in the service use registration request from the mobileterminal 20Aa to determine whether the service use registration requestis a regular service use registration request. When the service useregistration request is a regular service use registration request, theregistration management unit 326 determines whether or not the regularuser ID included in the service use registration request has alreadybeen registered in the user service registration information DB. Whenthe regular user ID included in the service use registration request hasalready been registered in the user service registration information DB,the registration management unit 326 registers the service of a targetspecified by the service use registration request in the user serviceregistration information database (DB) in the storage unit 320 as aservice available to the regular user corresponding to the regular userID.

Specifically, the registration management unit 326 constructs a userservice registration information DB in an aspect in whichservice-specific information for specifying a target service,vehicle-specific information for specifying the vehicle 10A, a regularuser ID for specifying a regular user who uses the service, and servicelink information in which the vehicle-specific information correspondingto the vehicle 10A and the regular user ID are associated with thetarget service is linked to the owner user ID.

The service-specific information is, for example, a service ID that isdefined for each service. Specifically, for example, when there is aplurality of companies providing the C2C car sharing service, a uniqueservice ID is defined for each of the companies. For example, when thesame company provides a plurality of C2C car sharing services, a uniqueID is defined for each of the services provided by the same company.When a trunk delivery service is provided by a combination of aplurality of delivery companies and a plurality of EC companies, aunique service ID may be defined for each combination of the deliverycompany and the EC company, and the target service may be specified by acombination of the unique service ID defined for each of the deliverycompanies and a unique service ID defined for each of the EC companies.

The vehicle-specific information may be any information as long as theinformation is able to specify the vehicle 10A that is a target oflocking, unlocking, or activation using the authentication key. Forexample, the vehicle-specific information may be identificationinformation such as a vehicle ID or a vehicle identification number(VIN), which is defined for each vehicle 10A. For example, thevehicle-specific information may be identification information such as akey unit ID, which is defined for each in-vehicle device related tolocking, unlocking, or activation of the doors based on theauthentication key mounted on the vehicle 10A such as the key unit 12.Hereinafter, description will be given on the premise that thevehicle-specific information is the key unit ID.

The service link information is information needed for the key sharingmanagement unit 327, the delivery management server 50, the EC server60, and the C2C car sharing management server 70 managing variousservices to transmit the authentication key arrangement request tothereby cause the authentication key issuance unit 323 to issue theauthentication key and distribute the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20 that is a target. That is, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 can specify the vehicle 10A that is a target of locking,unlocking, or activation using the authentication key and issue anappropriate authentication key by receiving the authentication keyarrangement request including the service link information from the keysharing management unit 327, the delivery management server 50, the ECserver 60, and the C2C car sharing management server 70.

The service link information may be any information as long as thetarget service is associated with the vehicle 10A and the user who usesthe service in the center server 30. For example, the service linkinformation may be a login ID of the regular user at a website for usersof various services corresponding to the key sharing management unit327, the delivery management server 50, the EC server 60, and the C2Ccar sharing management server 70 (hereinafter referred to as “servicelogin ID” for convenience). In the above-described case, the service useregistration request unit 237 of the mobile terminal 20Aa transmits theservice use registration request including the service login ID of theregular user that is a registration target corresponding to the variousservices to the center server 30 via the communication processing unit232. When the regular user that is a registration target correspondingto various services does not acquire the service login ID, theprocessing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa may activate apredetermined browser and acquire the service login ID of a website ofvarious services. Accordingly, when the user (the regular user of thevehicle 10A) logs in to the website at the time of requesting a servicethat is a target, the delivery management server 50 or the C2C carsharing management server 70 can recognize the service login IDcorresponding to the service link information and easily arrange theauthentication key regarding the service provision. Hereinafter,description will be given on the premise that the service linkinformation on the trunk delivery service and the C2C car sharingservice is the service login ID.

In the case of regular users who regularly use a plurality of vehicles10A, the center server 30 can specify the regular user solely by usingthe service login ID, but cannot specify the vehicle 10A. Therefore,information for indirectly specifying the vehicle 10A (for example,information obtained by encrypting the vehicle-specific informationusing a predetermined scheme) in addition to the service login ID may beincluded in the service link information.

When the registration of use of various services has been completed,registration management unit 326 notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa,20Ab corresponding to the regular users that are registration targetsthat the registration of use of various services has been completed, viacommunication processing unit 321. When the registration of use ofvarious services has been completed, the registration management unit326 transmits a service use registration completion notificationincluding the service link information to the key sharing managementunit 327 or the service management server 40 that performs an operationand management of a service that is a registration target.

A notification that the registration of use of various services for themobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab has been completed may be transmitted fromthe service management server 40 that has received the service useregistration completion notification.

When the service use situation request has been received from the mobileterminal 20Aa by the communication processing unit 321, the registrationmanagement unit 326 generates the service use situation informationbased on, for example, the vehicle use schedule information managed bythe user service registration information DB of the storage unit 520 orthe schedule management unit 325, and distributes the service usesituation information to the mobile terminal 20Aa via the communicationprocessing unit 321.

The key sharing management unit 327 performs an operation and managementof the key sharing service.

For example, according to the key sharing request received from themobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by the communication processingunit 321, the key sharing management unit 327 performs the arrangementof the authentication key to the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Abcorresponding to the regular user ID designated by the key sharingrequest. Specifically, the key sharing management unit 327 collates theowner user ID and the password included in the key sharing request withthe owner user ID and the password stored in the storage unit 320, anddetermines that the key sharing request is a regular key sharing requestwhen both match. The key sharing management unit 327 inquires of theschedule management unit 325 and determines whether or not there ismismatch, that is, overlapping of the use date and time regarding theuse of the services and the vehicle 10A of the regular users between theuse period information included in the key sharing request and thelatest vehicle use schedule information. When there is no overlapping ofthe use time, the key sharing management unit 327 sends, to theauthentication key issuance unit 323, the authentication key arrangementrequest including information on the regular users corresponding to themobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab that are distribution targets of theauthentication key specified by the information included in the keysharing request, and the vehicle 10A that is a target of locking,unlocking, or activation using the authentication key, and authorityinformation such as a period of time in which the authentication key isavailable to the respective mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab, the number oftimes the authentication key is available to the respective mobileterminals 20Aa, 20Ab, unlockable doors, and whether or not the vehiclecan be activated. Accordingly, the authentication key issuance unit 323can specify the regular user IDs corresponding to the mobile terminals20Aa, 20Ab that are distribution targets of the authentication key, andthe vehicle 10A that is a target of locking, unlocking, or activationusing the authentication key, and issue an appropriate authenticationkey.

For example, the key sharing management unit 327 confirms, for example,attribute information (for example, an age or presence or absence of adriving license) of the users of the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab thatare distribution targets of the authentication key that is designated bythe key sharing request, which is stored in the storage unit 320. Whenthe users of the mobile terminal 20Aa, 20Ab (regular users of thevehicle 10A) that are distribution targets of the authentication key areusers determined to be unable to drive the vehicle 10A, the key sharingmanagement unit 327 allows an authentication key to which an authorityto be unable to activate the vehicle 10A has been imparted to be issuedto the mobile terminal 20 of the user. The user who cannot drive thevehicle 10A is, for example, a user who has not reached an age at whichthe user can acquire a driver's license or a user who does not acquirethe driver's license. Specifically, the key sharing management unit 327sends an authentication key arrangement request in which an indicationthat the activation of the vehicle 10A is prohibited is included inauthority information corresponding to the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Abcorresponding to the users determined to be unable to drive the vehicle10A, to the authentication key issuance unit 323. Accordingly, since theauthentication key issuance unit 323 can distribute the authenticationkey to which the authority to prohibit the activation of the vehicle 10Ahas been imparted, to the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab of the users whoare unable to drive the vehicle 10A, it is possible to improve safety ofthe vehicle 10A in the key sharing service.

For example, the key sharing management unit 327 distributes theauthentication key of the vehicle 10A to the other mobile terminal 20designated by the temporary key sharing request received from the mobileterminal 20Aa of the owner user by the communication processing unit 321based on the temporary key sharing request. Specifically, the keysharing management unit 327 specifies the ID of the installing usercorresponding to the other mobile terminal 20 that is a distributiontarget (hereinafter referred to as “installing user ID”) based on theinstalling user information DB of the key application stored in thestorage unit 320. The key sharing management unit 327 sends anauthentication key arrangement request including the specifiedinstalling user ID and information (for example, an issued ID of theauthentication key included in the temporary key sharing request)corresponding to the authentication key designated by the temporary keysharing request to the authentication key issuance unit 323.Accordingly, the authentication key issuance unit 323 can specifyanother mobile terminal 20 that is a distribution target based on theinstalling user ID, the issued ID of the authentication key, and thelike, and distribute the authentication key to the other mobile terminal20 via the communication processing unit 321.

A function of the key sharing management unit 327 may be transferred toa server (a key sharing management server) outside the center server 30,which may be included in the service management server 40, similar toother services for using the vehicle 10A.

The mobile terminal 20Ab carried by the sub-user includes thecommunication processing unit 231, the communication processing unit232, the authentication key acquisition unit 233, the authenticationrequest unit 234, the locking and unlocking request unit 235, and thestorage unit 230, as described above.

In the embodiment, description will be given on the premise that thefunction of the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobileterminal 20Ab is available to the sub-user by the key application beingactivated and the user authentication based on bidirectionalcommunication with the center server 30 being successful. Further,description will be given on the premise that the user authentication isperformed by the center server 30 based on the sub-user ID and thepassword. Description will be given on the premise that functions of theauthentication request unit 234 and the locking and unlocking requestunit 235 of the mobile terminal 20Ab are available to the sub-user bythe key application being activated.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 acquires the authenticationkey distributed from the center server 30 according to the key sharingrequest transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aa to the center server30 via the communication processing unit 232, as described above.Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Ab can lock and unlock the doors ofthe vehicle 10A or activate the vehicle 10A based on the functions ofthe communication processing unit 231, the authentication request unit234, and the locking and unlocking request unit 235. That is, thesub-user carrying the mobile terminal 20Ab can directly use the vehicle10A through the key sharing service. For example, the sub-user can lockand unlock the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Ab withoutperforming key exchange with the owner user and drive the vehicle 10A.Similarly, the owner user can lend the vehicle 10A to the sub-userwithout exchanging the key with the sub-user. Accordingly, it ispossible to improve convenience in lending and borrowing of the vehicle10A between the owner user of the vehicle 10A and the sub-user throughthe key sharing service in the authentication key management system 1.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 acquires the authenticationkey that is distributed from the center server 30 according to thetemporary key sharing request transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aato the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 232, asdescribed above. The same applies to a case where the authentication keyis distributed to another mobile terminal 20 other than the mobileterminal 20Ab of the sub-user according to the temporary key sharingrequest. Accordingly, the other mobile terminal 20 including the mobileterminal 20Ab can lock and unlock the doors of the vehicle 10A oractivate the vehicle 10A based on the functions of the communicationprocessing unit 231, the authentication request unit 234, and thelocking and unlocking request unit 235. That is, for example, when aplurality of persons including other regular users get on the vehicle10A together and go out and even when the sub-user carrying the mobileterminal 20Ab does not acquire the authentication key in advance, thesub-user does not have to borrow the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab towhich the authentication key has already been distributed, and candirectly use the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Ab, such aslocking and unlocking the vehicle 10A or driving the vehicle 10A.Similarly, even when the owner user has not caused the mobile terminal20Ab of the sub-user to acquire the authentication key, it is not neededfor the owner user to lend the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user tothe sub-user. Accordingly, it is possible to improve convenience of theuser in a case where a plurality of persons including the regular userof the vehicle 10A gets on the vehicle 10A together and uses the vehicle10A through the temporary key sharing in the authentication keymanagement system 1.

Details of Configuration Regarding Trunk Delivery Service

A configuration regarding the trunk delivery service in theauthentication key management system 1 will be described with referenceto FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a trunk delivery service in the authentication key managementsystem 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding the trunk deliveryservice in the authentication key management system 1 will be mainlydescribed with reference to FIG. 4, and duplicate description on theconfiguration overlapping the above-described configuration regardingthe key sharing service will be omitted as much as possible.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit232, the user registration request unit 236, the service useregistration request unit 237, and the service use situation requestunit 238, as described above.

The user registration request unit 236 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user (a sub-user) of the vehicle 10A who usesvarious services including the trunk delivery service according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The service use registration request unit 237 requests the center server30 to perform the registration of use of various services including thetrunk delivery service for each registered regular user (the owner useror the sub-user) according to a predetermined manipulation by the owneruser, as described above.

For example, the service use registration request unit 237 transmits, asthe service link information, a service use registration request forusing the trunk delivery service including a service login ID of awebsite for a user who uses the service of the delivery managementserver 50 (hereinafter referred to as a “delivery site”) and a servicelogin ID of the EC site, which corresponds to the regular user of thevehicle 10A that is a registration target, to the center server 30.

The service use situation request unit 238 requests the center server 30to provide information on a use situation of various services (serviceuse situation information) including the trunk delivery service of theregular user of the vehicle 10A for which the use registration has beenperformed, in a form corresponding to the owner user ID according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The delivery management server 50 (an example of a delivery assistancedevice) includes a communication device 51 and a processing device 52.

The communication device 51 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20, the center server 30,and the EC server 60 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 52 (an example of an information processingdevice) includes, for example, a communication processing unit 521, aservice cooperation registration unit 522, a delivery reception unit523, a delivery management unit 524, and a delivery destinationcandidate registration unit 525 as functional units that are realized byexecuting one or more programs stored in the ROM or the auxiliarystorage device on the CPU. The processing device 52 includes a storageunit 520 that is realized as a storage area of an auxiliary storagedevice or the like of the server computer.

The communication processing unit 521 controls the communication device51 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20, the center server 30, and the EC server 60.

The service cooperation registration unit 522 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the trunk delivery service of the regular user of the vehicle 10Aand the delivery management server 50 according to the service useregistration completion notification received from the center server 30by the communication processing unit 521.

For example, the service cooperation registration unit 522 adds a flagindicating a use target of the trunk delivery service to the servicelogin ID (service link information) included in the service useregistration completion notification in the user management DB thatmanages the user of the delivery site constructed in the storage unit520. In addition, the service cooperation registration unit 522 performsregistration in an aspect in which a service login ID of a website (thatis, the EC site) corresponding to the EC server 60 included in theservice use registration completion notification is linked to theservice login ID included in the service use registration completionnotification in the user management DB of the storage unit 520.Accordingly, when an order reception including a service login ID isreceived from the EC server 60 by the communication processing unit 521,the delivery management server 50 can specify the corresponding servicelogin ID of the delivery site. The delivery management server 50transmits the authentication key arrangement request including thespecified service login ID to the center server 30 such that it ispossible to cause the authentication key to be distributed from thecenter server 30 to the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer, asdescribed below.

The delivery reception unit 523 receives information (delivery requestinformation) on the luggage delivery request including the service loginID of the EC site corresponding to an orderer of the product at the ECsite from the EC server 60 via the communication processing unit 521.The delivery request information received from the EC server 60 includesinformation on a designated delivery destination (delivery destinationinformation), information on a designated delivery date and time(delivery date and time information), and the like in addition to basicinformation such as a name, an address, and a telephone number of theorderer that is a delivery destination.

The delivery management unit 524 performs an operation and management ofeach process from reception to delivery regarding the delivery requestreceived by the delivery reception unit 523.

For example, when the delivery management unit 524 receives anotification that luggage has reached a business office that hasjurisdiction over a parking position of the vehicle 10A designated bythe delivery destination information of the delivery request, thedelivery management unit 524 decides a date and time of departure fordelivery of the luggage, a deliverer in charge, and the like accordingto a designated delivery time period.

The delivery management unit 524 inquires the center server 30 about theposition information of the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 521 before departure of the luggage (for example, 10 minutes beforea departure scheduled time). When the delivery management unit 524inquires the center server 30 about the position information of thevehicle 10A, a service login ID (that is, service link information) at adelivery site of the regular user of the vehicle 10A that is a user ofthe trunk delivery service is included in the inquiry. The same alsoapplies to an inquiry about position information to be described below.The delivery management unit 524 acquires current position informationof the vehicle 10A from the center server 30 via the communicationprocessing unit 521 and determines whether or not the delivery can beperformed from matching with the parking position of the designatedvehicle 10A and a relationship with a jurisdiction area.

When the delivery management unit 524 determines that the delivery canbe performed, the delivery management unit 524 transmits a notificationthat the luggage can be delivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A(delivery available notification) to the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer via the communication processing unit 521.

When an authentication key acquisition request is received from themobile terminal 20Ac that has received the delivery availablenotification by the communication processing unit 521, the deliverymanagement unit 524 determines whether or not the authentication keyacquisition request is a regular authentication key acquisition request.Specifically, the delivery management unit 524 may perform thedetermination by collating information on luggage that is a deliverytarget (hereinafter referred to as “delivery luggage information” forconvenience) such as a deliverer, a destination (for example, a name ofa recipient or a corporate name), a type of luggage, a delivery timeperiod, and a delivery place that can be included in the authenticationkey acquisition request, with various types of information on theluggage registered in the storage unit 520. When the delivery managementunit 524 determines that the authentication key acquisition request is aregular authentication key acquisition request, the delivery managementunit 524 transmits an authentication key arrangement request to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 521. When thedelivery management unit 524 transmits the authentication keyarrangement request to the center server 30, information for specifyingthe mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer may be included in theauthentication key arrangement request. The information for specifyingthe deliverer may be, for example, an authentication ID for obtaininguser authentication at the center server 30 in order for the delivererto use the function of the key application corresponding to theauthentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminal 20Ac orthe like (hereinafter referred to as a “deliverer ID” for convenience).Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer can acquire theauthentication key from the center server 30.

When the delivery management unit 524 receives an inquiry about thecurrent position of the vehicle 10A from the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer who has left for the delivery from the business office via thecommunication processing unit 521, the delivery management unit 524inquires of the center server 30 about the current position informationof the vehicle 10A. The delivery management unit 524 acquires thecurrent position information of the vehicle 10A from the center server30 via the communication processing unit 521 and transmits (transfers)the current position information of the vehicle 10A to the mobileterminal 20Ac of the deliverer. Accordingly, the deliverer who has goneout can compare the current position information of the vehicle 10A withthe information on the parking position of the vehicle 10A designated bythe delivery destination information and determine whether to deliverthe luggage or return to the business office.

When the delivery management unit 524 receives the delivery completionnotification received from the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer whohas completed the delivery of the luggage via the communicationprocessing unit 521, an operation and management regarding the trunkdelivery service regarding the luggage basically ends. When theoperation and management regarding the trunk delivery service regardingthe luggage ends, the delivery management unit 524 may notify deliveryto the regular user of the vehicle 10A that is a client (a purchaser ofa product at the EC site) through an electronic mail or a predeterminedapplication cooperating with the delivery site installed in the mobileterminals 20Aa, 20Ab has been completed.

The DCM 14 of the vehicle 10A may determine that the delivery by thedeliverer has been completed when the door (the trunk lid or the like)for access to the trunk of the vehicle 10A is locked after the door isunlocked, and notify the center server 30 that the delivery by thedeliverer has been completed, as described above. Accordingly, thecenter server 30 can transmit a delivery completion notification to thedelivery management server 50 when the notification is received. Thatis, the delivery completion notification may be transmitted from thecenter server 30 to the delivery management server 50.

The delivery management unit 524 (an example of a delivery destinationdecision unit) decides an alternative delivery destination (hereinafterreferred to as an “alternative delivery destination”) based oncandidates for the delivery destination registered in the storage unit520 (hereinafter referred to as “delivery destination candidates”) andthe priority of each delivery destination candidate, as will bedescribed below, when the luggage cannot be delivered to the deliverydestination designated by the user (that is, a delivery destination withthe highest priority to be described below. Hereinafter referred to as a“designated delivery destination”).

For example, when the luggage cannot be delivered to the trunk of thevehicle 10A despite the trunk of the vehicle 10A being designated as thedelivery destination (that is, the highest priority), the deliverymanagement unit 524 decides that a house of the regular user of thevehicle 10A is the alternative delivery destination when the house ofthe regular user of the vehicle 10A is registered in the second highestpriority. In this case, in the “house” as the delivery destination, itis assumed that the luggage is delivered directly to a person in thehouse or to be delivered to a delivery box to be deployed. Examples of acase where the luggage cannot be delivered to the trunk of the vehicle10A include a case where the vehicle 10A moves from a designated place,and a case where the luggage cannot be accommodated due to, for example,the trunk of the vehicle 10A being full or the luggage being too large.Accordingly, for example, in a situation in which the vehicle 10A is notparked at the designated position (that is, the house of the regularuser) since the regular user of the vehicle 10A has got on the vehicle10A and has gone out due to urgent business or the like, the deliverercan appropriately deliver the luggage when a family member or the likeis at the house or a delivery box is deployed at the house. Therefore,the delivery management server 50 can suppress unneeded redelivery.

When the trunk of the vehicle 10A is the delivery destination, thedelivery management unit 524 can determine that the luggage cannot bedelivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A before the deliverer reachesthe designated parking position of the vehicle 10A. For example, whenthe vehicle 10A has moved from a designated place within a predeterminedtime before a scheduled delivery date and time (time period) of theluggage, the delivery management unit 524 may determine that the luggagecan be delivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A. For example, when thevehicle 10A has moved from a designated place within a predeterminedtime before a scheduled delivery date and time (time period) of theluggage and the vehicle 10A is out of a range in which a determinationis made that the vehicle 10A returns to the designated place at thescheduled delivery date and time, the delivery management unit 524 maydetermine that the luggage cannot be delivered to the trunk of thevehicle 10A. In this case, the delivery management unit 524 can acquirethe position information of the vehicle 10A by inquiring of the centerserver 30 via the communication processing unit 521 before the scheduleddelivery date and time.

For example, when there is no one at the house of the user and theluggage cannot be delivered to the house despite the house of the userbeing designated as the delivery destination (that is, with the highestpriority), the delivery management unit 524 decides that the trunk ofthe vehicle 10A is the alternative delivery destination when the trunkof the vehicle 10A is registered in the second highest priority. Thus,for example, in a situation in which a person scheduled to be at thehouse has gone out due to urgent business or the like, the deliverer candeliver the luggage to the trunk of the vehicle 10A. Therefore, thedelivery management server 50 can suppress unneeded redelivery.

When the luggage cannot be delivered to the designated deliverydestination in a state in which delivery destination candidates otherthan the designated delivery destination are not registered in adelivery request information DB or the like of the storage unit 520 tobe described below, the delivery management unit 524 may transmit aninquiry for prompting the regular user of the vehicle 10A to register analternative delivery destination via the communication processing unit521 (an example of a transmission unit). In this case, for example, thedelivery management unit 524 transmits the inquiry to the mobileterminals 20Aa, 20Ab of the regular users of the vehicle 10A in anaspect of a push notification through an application program interworkedwith the delivery site (hereinafter referred to as an “deliveryapplication”) that is provided from a delivery company corresponding tothe delivery management server 50 and installed in the mobile terminals20Aa, 20Ab of the regular users of the vehicle 10A. Accordingly, theuser can ascertain the above situation in relatively real time in asituation in which the delivery company cannot deliver the luggage tothe designated delivery destination, and register candidates for thealternative delivery destination through the delivery application, thedelivery site, or the like as described below.

Hereinafter, a detailed operation of the delivery management unit 524will be described (see FIGS. 10 and 11).

The delivery destination candidate registration unit 525 (an example ofa registration unit) registers delivery destination candidates of theluggage and the priorities for the respective delivery destinationcandidates in the storage unit 320 in response to a request from theterminal of the regular user of the vehicle 10A (for example, the mobileterminals 20Aa, 20Ab) who has completed user registration for a trunkdelivery service. In this case, a trunk of each of the vehicles 10A maybe included in the delivery destination that can be registered.Specifically, for example, the vehicles 10A may include a plurality ofvehicles 10A owned by one owner user. The vehicles 10A may include othervehicles 10A that are owned by family members, friends, or the like ofthe owner user and registered for use as sub-users in the center server30, in addition to the vehicle 10A owned by the owner user. Accordingly,for example, even when the deliverer cannot deliver the luggage to thevehicle 10A of a certain owner user corresponding to a relatively highpriority, the deliverer can deliver the luggage to a trunk of thevehicle 10A of the family member of the owner user or the vehicle 10A ofthe neighboring friend at the same site.

For example, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525may register a plurality of delivery destination candidates andpriorities of the delivery destination candidates set using the terminalof the regular user of the vehicle 10A in a delivery destinationcandidate pre-registration DB of the storage unit 320 regardless of arequest for delivery of the luggage. Accordingly, when the regular userof the vehicle 10A performs pre-registration, the regular user of thevehicle 10A can request the luggage to be delivered to any one ofdelivery destination candidates according to the priority unlesschanging such registration is needed.

For example, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525may register a plurality of delivery destination candidates andpriorities of the candidates set using the terminal of the user of thevehicle 10A at the time of a request for delivery of the luggage, in aDB of the storage unit 320 in which various pieces of information on thedelivery of the requested luggage are registered (hereinafter referredto as a “delivery request information DB”). Accordingly, the userregisters the delivery destination having the highest priority (that is,the designated delivery destination) and the delivery destination havingthe second highest priority or subsequent highest priority (that is, acandidate for the alternative delivery destination) at the time of therequest for delivery, such that the luggage can be delivered to thealternative delivery destination in a situation in which the luggage isnot delivered to the designated delivery destination for some reasons.

For example, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525may register, in the delivery request information DB, candidates for thealternative delivery destination and the priority of each candidate setfrom the terminal of the regular user of the vehicle 10A after theinquiry is transmitted in a situation in which the deliverer cannotdeliver the luggage to the designated delivery destination. Accordingly,even when solely the designated delivery destination (that is, thedelivery destination candidate with the highest priority) is registeredat the time of the request for delivery, the user can registercandidates for the alternative delivery destination (that is, deliverydestination candidate with the second highest priority or the subsequenthighest priority) before redelivery to request the luggage to bedelivered to any one of the candidates.

The delivery destination candidate registration unit 525 may not be anaspect in which the request for registration of the luggage deliverydestination candidate can be received from the regular user of thevehicle 10A at a timing not related to the request of luggage, at thetime of the request of luggage, and at all timing in a case where thedeliverer cannot deliver the luggage to the designated deliverydestination. The delivery destination candidate registration unit 525may be able to register a plurality of delivery destination candidatesand priorities for the respective delivery destination candidates inresponse to the registration request from the regular user of thevehicle 10A at least at any one timing.

Hereinafter, a detailed operation of the delivery destination candidateregistration unit 525 will be described (see FIGS. 7 to 9).

The EC server 60 includes a communication device 61 and a processingdevice 62.

The communication device 61 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20, the center server 30,and the delivery management server 50 over a predetermined communicationnetwork.

The processing device 62 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 621, a web resource transmission unit 622, a servicecooperation registration unit 623, and an order reception processingunit 624 as functional units that are realized by executing one or moreprograms stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU.The processing device 62 includes a storage unit 620 that is realized asa storage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like of the servercomputer.

The communication processing unit 621 controls the communication device61 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20, the center server 30, and the delivery management server50.

The web resource transmission unit 622 transmits resources correspondingto the webpage to be displayed on a browser of any terminal of the userbrowsing the EC site including the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab based onvarious types of information as resources of the EC site stored in thestorage unit 620 to the browser of the terminal using a predeterminedscheme. A top page of the EC site, a webpage corresponding to anindividual product handled at the EC site, an order input page for theuser to input various types of information at the time of ordering anindividual product, and the like are included in the webpage that can bedisplayed on the EC site. For example, the web resource transmissionunit 622 transmits a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) documentcorresponding to webpage, and information under the HTML document suchas an image and a moving image displayed on webpages in parallel.

The service cooperation registration unit 623 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the trunk delivery service of the regular user of the vehicle 10Aand the EC server 60 according to the service use registrationcompletion notification received from the center server 30 by thecommunication processing unit 621. For example, the service cooperationregistration unit 623 adds a flag indicating a use target of the trunkdelivery service to the service login ID included in the service useregistration completion notification in the user management DB thatmanages the user of the EC site constructed in the storage unit 620. Inaddition, the service cooperation registration unit 623 performsregistration in an aspect in which a service login ID of a website (thatis, the delivery site) corresponding to the delivery management server50 included in the service use registration completion notification islinked to the service login ID included in the service use registrationcompletion notification in the user management DB. Accordingly, forexample, when an inquiry about an ordered product including the servicelogin ID of the delivery site is received from the delivery managementserver 50 by the communication processing unit 621, the EC server 60 canspecify the service login ID of the corresponding EC site.

The order reception processing unit 624 receives an order of productsfrom the user based on various manipulation inputs corresponding to theorder of the product of the user at the EC site. When the orderreception processing unit 624 receives an order and the trunk of thevehicle 10A is selected as a delivery destination on an order input pageof the EC site, the order reception processing unit 624 inquires thecenter server 30 about the car use schedule information via thecommunication processing unit 621. Accordingly, the order receptionprocessing unit 624 can acquire the latest vehicle use scheduleinformation via the communication processing unit 621. Therefore, forexample, when a designated date and time of delivery has alreadyoverlapped another schedule, the order reception processing unit 624 cantake countermeasures such as requesting to change a delivery date andtime.

As described above, the trunk delivery service in which luggage otherthan an ordered product at the EC site is a target can also be assumed.In the above-described case, the delivery management server 50 maysimilarly acquire the latest vehicle use schedule information from thecenter server 30. Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 cantake countermeasures such as requesting to change a delivery date andtime when a date and time of delivery of the luggage to the trunk of thevehicle 10A designated by the regular user of the vehicle 10A hasalready overlapped another schedule.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322,the authentication key issuance unit 323, the position informationmanagement unit 324, the schedule management unit 325, the registrationmanagement unit 326, and the storage unit 320, as described above.

When the condition determination unit 322 receives the authenticationkey arrangement request from the delivery management server 50 via thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322determines whether or not the authentication key arrangement request isa regular authentication key arrangement request. For example, thecondition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is the regular authentication keyarrangement request based on the service login ID of the delivery siteincluded in the authentication key arrangement request or predeterminedauthentication information (for example, the ID and the password)corresponding to the delivery management server 50.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 323 specifiesthe vehicle 10A corresponding to the authentication key arrangementrequest based on the user service registration information DB of thestorage unit 320. The authentication key issuance unit 323 issues theauthentication key in which a time is limited (for example, the vehicleis available solely in units of several minutes to tens of minutes fromthe distribution), the number of times of use is limited (for example,the number of times of use is solely 1), and an authority is limited sothat solely locking and unlocking of the trunk lid can be allowed.Accordingly, it is possible to suppress unauthorized use of the vehicle10A by the deliverer and to improve security. The authentication keyissuance unit 323 distributes the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20Ac of the deliverer specified by the authentication keyarrangement request via the communication processing unit 321.

For example, any method such as a known mathematical method or a methodbased on bidirectional communication between the center server 30 andthe vehicle 10 may be adopted as a method of limiting a period of timein which the authentication key is available or the number of times theauthentication key is used.

The position information management unit 324 transmits a positioninformation request to the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 321 according to the inquiry about the current position of thevehicle 10A from the delivery management server 50 received by thecommunication processing unit 321. Accordingly, the DCM 14 of thevehicle 10A can reply the center server 30 with the position informationof the vehicle 10A input from the GPS module 13 according to theposition information request from the center server 30, and the positioninformation management unit 324 can acquire the current positioninformation from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit321. The position information management unit 324 replies the deliverymanagement server 50 with the current position information acquired fromthe vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit 321.

The schedule management unit 325 replies the EC server 60 with thelatest vehicle use schedule information stored in the storage unit 320via the communication processing unit 321 according to the inquiry fromthe EC server 60 received by the communication processing unit 321.

The registration management unit 326 performs registration of theregular user (the sub-user) who uses various services including thetrunk delivery service according to the user registration requestreceived from the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by thecommunication processing unit 321, as described above. The registrationmanagement unit 326 performs registration of use of the trunk deliveryservice by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to the serviceuse registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of theowner user by the communication processing unit 321, as described above.When the registration of use of various services including the trunkdelivery service has been completed, the registration management unit326 notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab corresponding to theregular users that are registration targets that the registration of useof various services including the trunk delivery service has beencompleted via the communication processing unit 321, as described above.When the registration of use of the trunk delivery service has beencompleted, the registration management unit 326 transmits a service useregistration completion notification including the service linkinformation to the delivery management server 50 and the EC server 60that perform an operation and management of a service that is aregistration target via the communication processing unit 321.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Ac of a delivererincludes the communication processing unit 231, the communicationprocessing unit 232, the authentication key acquisition unit 233, theauthentication request unit 234, and the locking and unlocking requestunit 235, as described above.

In the embodiment, the description will be given on the premise that thefunctions of the authentication key acquisition unit 233, theauthentication request unit 234, and the locking and unlocking requestunit 235 of the mobile terminal 20Ac are available to the owner user bythe key application being activated.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 transmits the authenticationkey acquisition request to the delivery management server 50 via thecommunication processing unit 232 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by a deliverer. In the above-described case, theauthentication key acquisition request includes the above-describeddelivery luggage information stored in the storage unit 230 in advance.Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 transmits anauthentication key arrangement request to the center server 30 accordingto the authentication key acquisition request, the center server 30distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ac accordingto the authentication key arrangement request, and the mobile terminal20Ac can acquire the authentication key. Therefore, the mobile terminal20Ac can lock and unlock the trunk lid of the vehicle 10A based on thefunctions of the communication processing unit 231, the authenticationrequest unit 234, and the locking and unlocking request unit 235, suchthat the deliverer can deliver the requested luggage to the trunk of thevehicle 10A, lock the trunk of the vehicle 10A, and return to the house.

Details of Configuration Regarding C2C Car Sharing Service

A configuration regarding a C2C car sharing service in theauthentication key management system 1 will be described with referenceto FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding the C2C car sharing service in the authentication keymanagement system 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding the C2Ccar sharing service in the authentication key management system 1 willbe mainly described with respect to FIG. 5, and duplicate description onthe configuration overlapping the above-described configurationregarding the key sharing service or the like will be omitted as much aspossible.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit232, the user registration request unit 236, the service useregistration request unit 237, and the service use situation requestunit 238, as described above.

The user registration request unit 236 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user (a sub-user) of the vehicle 10A who usesvarious services including the C2C car sharing service according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The service use registration request unit 237 requests the center server30 to perform the registration of use of various services including theC2C car sharing service for each registered regular user (the owner useror the sub-user) according to a predetermined manipulation by the owneruser, as described above.

For example, the service use registration request unit 237 transmits, asthe service link information, a service use registration request forusing the C2C car sharing service including a service login ID of awebsite for a user who uses the C2C car sharing service corresponding tothe C2C car sharing management server 70 (hereinafter referred to as a“C2C car sharing site”), which corresponds to the regular user of thevehicle 10A that is a registration target, to the center server 30.

The service use situation request unit 238 requests the center server 30to provide information on a use situation of various services (serviceuse situation information) including the C2C car sharing service of theregular user of the vehicle 10A for which the use registration has beenperformed, in a form corresponding to the owner user ID according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The C2C car sharing management server 70 includes a communication device71 and a processing device 72.

The communication device 71 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20 and the center server30 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 72 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 721, a service cooperation registration unit 722, areservation management unit 723, and a vehicle management unit 724 asfunctional units that are realized by executing one or more programsstored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. Theprocessing device 72 includes a storage unit 720 that is realized as astorage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like of the servercomputer.

Description will be given on the premise that the information forspecifying the vehicle 10A that is a lending target has already beenregistered (stored) in the storage unit 720 in an aspect in which theinformation is linked to the service login ID via the C2C car sharingsite by the regular user (the owner user) of the vehicle 10A.

The communication processing unit 721 controls the communication device71 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20 and the center server 30.

The service cooperation registration unit 722 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the C2C car sharing service of the regular user of the vehicle10A and the C2C car sharing management server 70 according to theservice use registration completion notification received from thecenter server 30 by the communication processing unit 721.

For example, the service cooperation registration unit 722 adds a flagindicating a lender of the vehicle 10A the C2C car sharing service tothe service login ID included in the service use registration completionnotification in the user management DB that manages the user of the C2Ccar sharing site constructed in the storage unit 720. The C2C carsharing management server 70 transmits the authentication keyarrangement request including the service login ID corresponding to theregular user of the vehicle 10A, which is the lender, to the centerserver 30 such that it is possible to cause the authentication key to bedistributed from the center server 30 to the mobile terminal 20Ad of theborrower, as described below.

The reservation management unit 723 manages reservation of use of thevehicle 10A that is performed through the C2C car sharing site or thelike.

For example, the reservation management unit 723 receives registrationof a date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentable from the regularuser of the vehicle 10A through the C2C car sharing site and registers(stores) the received date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentablein the storage unit 720. When the date and time on which the vehicle 10Ais rentable is registered (stored) in the storage unit 720, thereservation management unit 723 inquires of the center server 30 aboutthe car use schedule information via the communication processing unit721. Accordingly, the reservation management unit 723 can acquire thelatest vehicle use schedule information via the communication processingunit 721. Therefore, the C2C car sharing management server 70, forexample, can take countermeasures such as requesting to change the dateand time on which the vehicle 10A is rentable, which is received fromthe regular user of the vehicle 10A, or registering a portion excludingan overlapping portion from the date and time on which the vehicle 10Ais rentable as the date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentablewhen the received date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentablealready overlaps another schedule or registering.

For example, the reservation management unit 723 receives thereservation of use of the vehicle 10A within a range of the date andtime on which the vehicle 10A is rentable, which is stored in thestorage unit 720. When the reservation management unit 723 receives thereservation of use of the vehicle 10A from a user who is a borrowerthrough the C2C car sharing site, the reservation management unit 723updates information on a lending schedule of the vehicle 10A (lendingschedule information) stored in the storage unit 720.

For example, when the authentication key acquisition request is receivedfrom the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower of the vehicle 10A by thecommunication processing unit 721, the reservation management unit 723determines whether or not the authentication key acquisition request isa regular authentication key acquisition request. Specifically, thereservation management unit 723 may perform the determination based onthe service login ID and the password of the C2C car sharing siteincluded in the authentication key acquisition request, or arelationship regarding the date and time of reservation of use (forexample, within a range of the date and time of reservation of use orless than a predetermined time until a date and time of use start). Whenthe authentication key acquisition request is a regular authenticationkey acquisition request, the reservation management unit 723 transmitsan authentication key arrangement request to the center server 30 viathe communication processing unit 721. When the authentication keyarrangement request is transmitted to the center server 30, informationfor specifying the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower of the vehicle10A is included in the authentication key arrangement request. Theinformation for specifying the borrower of the vehicle 10A may be, forexample, an authentication ID (hereinafter referred to as a “borrowerID” for convenience) for obtaining user authentication in the centerserver 30 in order for the borrower of the vehicle 10A to use a functionof the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminal20Ad. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower of thevehicle 10A can acquire the authentication key from the center server30.

The vehicle management unit 724 manages the vehicle 10A that is alending target.

For example, the vehicle management unit 724 inquires of the centerserver 30 about a current position information of the vehicle 10A viathe communication processing unit 721 before the date and time ofreservation of use of the vehicle 10A (for example, a period from tensof minutes ago to immediately before). The vehicle management unit 724acquires the current position information of the vehicle 10A repliedfrom center server 30 according to the inquiry via the communicationprocessing unit 721. Accordingly, a determination can be made as towhether or not the vehicle 10A returns to a designated place before adate and time of lending (a date and time of reservation of use) of thevehicle 10A. Accordingly, when the vehicle 10A does not return to thedesignated place, the C2C car sharing management server 70 can takecountermeasures such as warning the regular user who is a lender of thevehicle 10A so that the vehicle 10A returns to the designated placethrough an e-mail or a predetermined application cooperating with theC2C car sharing site, which is installed in the mobile terminals 20Aa,20Ab.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322,the authentication key issuance unit 323, the position informationmanagement unit 324, the schedule management unit 325, the registrationmanagement unit 326, and the storage unit 320, as described above.

When the authentication key arrangement request is received from the C2Ccar sharing management server 70 by the communication processing unit321, the condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyarrangement request. For example, the condition determination unit 322determines whether or not the authentication key arrangement request isthe regular authentication key arrangement request based on the servicelink information included in the authentication key arrangement request(for example, the service login ID of the C2C car sharing site) orpredetermined authentication information (for example, the ID and thepassword) corresponding to the C2C car sharing management server 70.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 323 specifiesthe vehicle 10A corresponding to the authentication key arrangementrequest based on the user service registration information DB of thestorage unit 320. The authentication key issuance unit 323 issues theauthentication key in which a time is limited (for example, the vehicleis available solely at the date and time of reservation of use of thevehicle 10A included in the authentication key arrangement request andin a buffering period before and after the date and time of reservationof use of the vehicle 10A). The authentication key issuance unit 323distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ad of theborrower of the vehicle 10A specified by the authentication keyarrangement request via the communication processing unit 321.

The C2C car sharing service may include, for example, a service(hereinafter referred to as “vehicle trunk lending service” forconvenience) in an aspect in which solely a trunk of the vehicle 10A islent. In the case of a vehicle trunk lending service, the authenticationkey issuance unit 323 may issue an authentication key with an authoritylimited so that locking and unlocking of the trunk lid are allowed.Accordingly, it is possible to limit a lending target of C2C car sharingto solely the trunk. Accordingly, for example, a trunk delivery servicein an aspect in which the trunk of the vehicle 10A to be lent at atravel destination is borrowed and a purchased product for use at atravel destination is delivered to the borrowed trunk can be realized.

The position information management unit 324 transmits a positioninformation request to the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 321 according to the inquiry about the current position of thevehicle 10A from the C2C car sharing management server 70 received bythe communication processing unit 321. Accordingly, the positioninformation management unit 324 can acquire the current positioninformation from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit321. The position information management unit 324 replies the C2C carsharing management server 70 with the current position informationacquired from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit 321.

The schedule management unit 325 transmits the latest vehicle useschedule information to the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 321 according to the inquiry about the current position of thevehicle 10A from the C2C car sharing management server 70 received bythe communication processing unit 321.

The registration management unit 326 performs registration of theregular user (the sub-user) who uses various services including the C2Ccar sharing service according to the user registration request receivedfrom the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by the communicationprocessing unit 321, as described above. The registration managementunit 326 performs registration of use of the C2C car sharing service bythe regular user of the vehicle 10A according to the service useregistration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owneruser by the communication processing unit 321, as described above. Whenthe registration of use of various services including the C2C carsharing service has been completed, the registration management unit 326notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab corresponding to the regularusers that are registration targets that the registration of use ofvarious services including the C2C car sharing service has beencompleted via the communication processing unit 321, as described above.When the registration of use of the C2C car sharing service has beencompleted, the registration management unit 326 transmits a service useregistration completion notification including the service linkinformation to the C2C car sharing management server 70 that performs anoperation and management of a service that is a registration target viathe communication processing unit 321.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower ofthe vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit 231, thecommunication processing unit 232, the authentication key acquisitionunit 233, the authentication request unit 234, the locking and unlockingrequest unit 235, and the storage unit 230, as described above.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 transmits an authenticationkey acquisition request to the C2C car sharing management server 70 viathe communication processing unit 232 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the borrower of the vehicle 10A. When the authenticationkey acquisition request is transmitted, the service login ID of the C2Ccar sharing site corresponding to the borrower of the vehicle 10A isincluded in the authentication key acquisition request. Accordingly, theC2C car sharing management server 70 can transmit an authentication keyarrangement request to the center server 30 according to theauthentication key acquisition request, the center server 30 candistribute the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ad accordingto the authentication key arrangement request, and the mobile terminal20Ad can acquire the authentication key. Therefore, the mobile terminal20Ad can lock and unlock the door of the vehicle 10A based on thefunctions of the communication processing unit 231, the authenticationrequest unit 234, and the locking and unlocking request unit 235. Thatis, the borrower of the vehicle 10A carrying the mobile terminal 20Adcan directly use the vehicle 10A, such as locking and unlocking thevehicle 10A and driving the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Adwithout performing exchange of a key with the regular user of thevehicle 10A through the C2C car sharing service. Similarly, the regularuser of the vehicle 10A can lend the vehicle 10A to another person otherthan the regular user without exchanging the key. Therefore, it ispossible to improve convenience in lending and borrowing of the vehicle10A between the regular user of the vehicle 10A and another person otherthan the regular user through the C2C car sharing service in theauthentication key management system 1.

Details of Configuration Regarding B2C Car Sharing Service

A B2C car sharing service in the authentication key management system 1will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding the B2C car sharing service in the authentication keymanagement system 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding the B2Ccar sharing service in the authentication key management system 1 willbe mainly described with respect to FIG. 6, and duplicate description onthe configuration overlapping the above-described configurationregarding the key sharing service or the like will be omitted as much aspossible.

The B2C car sharing management server 80 includes a communication device81 and a processing device 82.

The communication device 81 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20B and the center server30 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 82 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 821, a reservation management unit 822, and a vehiclemanagement unit 823 as functional units that are realized by executingone or more programs stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage deviceon the CPU. The processing device 82 includes a storage unit 820 that isrealized as a storage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like ofthe server computer.

The communication processing unit 821 controls the communication device81 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20B and the center server 30.

The reservation management unit 822 manages the reservation of use ofthe vehicle 10B that is performed through the B2C car sharing site orthe like.

For example, the reservation management unit 822 receives reservation ofuse of the vehicle 10B from a user (hereinafter referred to as “borroweruser”) who wants to borrow the vehicle 10B through a website that isoperated by a company of the B2C car sharing management server 80 or thelike (hereinafter referred to as a “B2C car sharing site” forconvenience). The reservation management unit 822 stores information onthe received reservation of use of the vehicle 10B (use reservationinformation) in the storage unit 820. When the information on usereservation is stored in the storage unit 820, for example, informationfor specifying the vehicle 10A that is a target, information on a dateand time of reservation of use (a start date and time of use and an enddate and time of use), and a service login ID of the borrower user inthe B2C car sharing site may be included in the use reservationinformation.

For example, the reservation management unit 822 updates the informationon the use schedule of the vehicle 10B (the vehicle use scheduleinformation) stored in the storage unit 820 each time the reservationmanagement unit 822 receives the reservation of use of the vehicle 10B.Accordingly, the B2C car sharing management server 80 can display theuse schedule of the vehicle 10B on the B2C car sharing site to present adate and time when the reservation of use can be made, to the borroweruser.

For example, when the authentication key request is received from themobile terminal 20B by the communication processing unit 821, thereservation management unit 822 determines whether or not theauthentication key request is a regular authentication key request.Specifically, the reservation management unit 822 may perform thedetermination based on the service login ID and the password of the B2Ccar sharing site corresponding to the borrower user included in theauthentication key request, or a relationship regarding the date andtime of reservation of use (for example, within a range of the date andtime of reservation of use or less than a predetermined time until adate and time of use start). When the authentication key request is aregular authentication key acquisition request, the reservationmanagement unit 822 transmits an authentication key arrangement requestto the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 821. Whenthe authentication key arrangement request is transmitted to the centerserver 30, information for specifying the mobile terminal 20B of theborrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B is included in theauthentication key arrangement request. The information for specifyingthe borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B may be, for example, anauthentication ID (hereinafter referred to as a “borrower user ID” forconvenience) for obtaining user authentication in the center server 30in order for the borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B to use afunction of a key application corresponding to the authentication keyacquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminal 20B or the like.Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20B of the borrower user borrowing thevehicle 10B can acquire the authentication key from the center server30.

The vehicle management unit 823 manages the vehicle 10B that is alending target.

For example, the vehicle management unit 823 inquires of the centerserver 30 about the vehicle 10B parked in the vicinity (for example,within hundreds of meters) of a place designated in the reservation ofuse via the communication processing unit 821 before the date and timeof reservation of use of the vehicle 10B of a borrower user (forexample, before tens of minutes). The vehicle management unit 823acquires the position information of the vehicle 10B parked in thevicinity of the designated place replied from center server 30 accordingto the inquiry via communication processing unit 821. Accordingly, thevehicle management unit 823 can specify one or a plurality of vehicles10B parked around the designated place and determine, for example, thevehicle 10B to be lent before the start date and time of use of thevehicle 10B of the borrower.

For example, the vehicle management unit 823 inquires of the centerserver 30 about the position information of the vehicle 10B in thedesignated area via the communication processing unit 821 according to asearch request of the vehicle 10B in a designated area by the borroweruser at the B2C car sharing site. The vehicle management unit 823acquires the position information of the vehicle 10B in the designatedarea replied from center server 30 according to the inquiry viacommunication processing unit 821. Accordingly, the vehicle managementunit 823, for example, can present the position information of thevehicle 10B that is a target to the borrower user who wants to borrowthe vehicle 10B in the designated area immediately at the B2C carsharing site.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322,the authentication key issuance unit 323, and the storage unit 320, asdescribed above.

When the authentication key arrangement request received from the B2Ccar sharing management server 80 is received by the communicationprocessing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322 determineswhether or not the authentication key arrangement request is a regularauthentication key arrangement request. For example, the conditiondetermination unit 322 determines whether or not the authentication keyarrangement request is the regular authentication key arrangementrequest based on whether or not the borrower user ID included in theauthentication key arrangement request is the authentication ID alreadyregistered in the storage unit 320, or on predetermined authenticationinformation (for example, an ID Password) corresponding to the B2C carsharing management server 80.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is the regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 323 issues theauthentication key in which a time is limited (for example, the vehicleis available solely at the date and time of reservation of use of thevehicle 10B included in the authentication key arrangement request andin a buffering period before and after the date and time of reservationof use of the vehicle 10B). The authentication key issuance unit 323distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20B of theborrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B specified by the authenticationkey arrangement request via the communication processing unit 321.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20B of the borrower userborrowing the vehicle 10B includes the communication processing unit231, the communication processing unit 232, the authentication keyacquisition unit 233, the authentication request unit 234, the lockingand unlocking request unit 235, and the storage unit 230, as describedabove.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 transmits an authenticationkey acquisition request to the B2C car sharing management server 80 viathe communication processing unit 232 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the borrower user of the vehicle 10B. When theauthentication key acquisition request is transmitted, the service loginID of the B2C car sharing site corresponding to the borrower userborrowing the vehicle 10B is included in the authentication keyacquisition request. Accordingly, the B2C car sharing management server80 can transmit an authentication key arrangement request to the centerserver 30 according to the authentication key acquisition request, thecenter server 30 can distribute the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20B according to the authentication key arrangement request,and the mobile terminal 20B can acquire the authentication key.Therefore, the mobile terminal 20B can lock and unlock the door of thevehicle 10B based on the functions of the communication processing unit231, the authentication request unit 234, and the locking and unlockingrequest unit 235. That is, the borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10Bcarrying the mobile terminal 20B can directly use the vehicle 10B, suchas locking and unlocking the vehicle 10B and driving the vehicle 10Busing the mobile terminal 20B without performing exchange of a key withthe company of the vehicle 10B through the B2C car sharing service.Therefore, it is possible to improve convenience for the borrower userborrowing the vehicle 10B through the B2C car sharing service in theauthentication key management system 1.

Characteristic Operation of Delivery Management Server

A characteristic operation of the delivery management server 50, thatis, a processing flow of a process of the delivery management server 50registering the delivery destination candidate in the storage unit 520(a delivery destination candidate registration process) and a process ofdeciding an alternative delivery destination (an alternative deliverydestination decision process) will be described with reference to FIGS.7 to 11.

Specific Example of Delivery Destination Candidate Registration Process

FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing an example of the deliverydestination candidate registration process of the delivery managementserver 50. The process according to this flowchart is repeatedlyexecuted, for example, at every predetermined control period.Hereinafter, the same applies to the case of the flowchart of FIG. 8.

In step S702, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525determines whether or not a pre-registration request for requestingpre-registration of the delivery destination candidates has beenreceived from the regular user of the vehicle 10A who uses the deliverysite, the delivery application, or the like via the communicationprocessing unit 521 or the like. When the delivery destination candidateregistration unit 525 receives the pre-registration request, thedelivery destination candidate registration unit 525 proceeds to stepS704, and otherwise, ends this process.

In step S704, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525registers the delivery destination candidate and the priorities for therespective delivery destination candidates input by the user of thevehicle 10A at the delivery site or the like in the delivery destinationcandidate pre-registration DB of the storage unit 520.

Thus, the user can register a plurality of delivery destinationcandidates in the storage unit 520 of the delivery management server 50in advance regardless of the delivery request.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart schematically showing another example of thedelivery destination registration process of the delivery managementserver 50.

In step S802, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525determines whether or not a delivery request has been received from theEC server 60 via the communication processing unit 521. When thedelivery request is received from the EC server 60, the deliverydestination candidate registration unit 525 proceeds to step S804 and,otherwise, ends this process.

In step S804, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525determines whether or not an instruction for the designated deliverydestination (that is, a delivery destination candidate with the highestpriority) and the alternative delivery destination (that is, thedelivery destination candidate with the second highest priority or thesubsequent highest priority) to quote a pre-registration content (thatis, registered content of the delivery destination candidatepre-registration DB) has been made in the request for delivery. When theinstruction to quote the pre-registered content is made, the deliverydestination candidate registration unit 525 proceeds to step S806 and,otherwise, proceeds to step S808.

In step S806, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525acquires a plurality of delivery destination candidates of the user thatare targets and priorities for the respective delivery destinationcandidates from the delivery destination candidate pre-registration DBof the storage unit 520.

On the other hand, in step S808, the delivery destination candidateregistration unit 525 acquires the designated delivery destinationincluded in the delivery request (that is, the delivery destinationcandidate having the first priority), the candidates for an alternativedelivery destination (that is, delivery destination candidates havingthe second highest priority or subsequent highest priorities), and thepriorities of the respective delivery destination candidates.

In step S810, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525additionally registers the delivery destination candidates and thepriorities for the respective delivery destination candidates that havebeen acquired, in the delivery request information generated by thedelivery management unit 524 based on the content of the deliveryrequest and registered in the delivery request information DB of thestorage unit 520.

Accordingly, the user can register the delivery destination candidatesin the storage unit 520 of the delivery management server 50 at the timeof the request for delivery (in the case of the embodiment, at the timeof ordering a product at the EC site).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart schematically showing still another example of thedelivery destination candidate registration process in the deliverymanagement server 50. The process according to this flowchart isexecuted, for example, when the delivery management unit 524 determinesthat the deliverer cannot deliver the luggage to the deliverydestination.

The delivery management unit 524 may determine that the deliverer cannotdeliver the luggage to the delivery destination by the communicationprocessing unit 521 receiving a notification indicating that delivery isunavailable, which is transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Acaccording to a predetermined manipulation of the deliverer. When thedelivery destination is the trunk of the vehicle 10A, the deliverymanagement unit 524 may determine that the luggage cannot be deliveredto the trunk of the vehicle 10A, before the deliverer reaches thevehicle 10A, based on whether or not the vehicle 10A has moved beforethe scheduled delivery date and time as described above.

In step S902, the delivery management unit 524 transmits an inquiry forprompting the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab of the regular users of thevehicle 10A to register an alternative delivery destination via thecommunication processing unit 521.

In step S904, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525determines whether or not a request for the registration of thealternative delivery destination has been received from the regular userof the vehicle 10A who has used a delivery site, a delivery application,or the like, within a predetermined time from the transmission of theinquiry via the communication processing unit 521 or the like. In thiscase, the predetermined time corresponding to a time to wait for therequest for the registration of the alternative delivery destination ispredefined in consideration of both work efficiency of the deliverer andsuppression of redelivery so that unneeded waiting time or the like doesnot occur. When the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525receives the request for the registration of the alternative deliverydestination within the predetermined time, the delivery destinationcandidate registration unit 525 proceeds to step S906 and, otherwiseends this process.

In step S906, the delivery destination candidate registration unit 525additionally registers candidates for the alternative deliverydestination and priorities of the alternative delivery destinationsinput via the delivery site, the delivery application, or the like, inthe delivery request information corresponding to the request fordelivery of the luggage that is a target in the delivery requestinformation DB of the storage unit 520.

Thus, even when the user has not registered the alternative deliverydestination (a delivery destination candidate with the second highestpriority or the subsequent highest priority) at the time of the requestfor delivery or the like, the user can register the alternative deliverydestination in the storage unit 520 of the delivery management server 50in response to the inquiry.

Specific Example of Alternative Delivery Destination Decision Process

FIG. 10 is a flowchart schematically showing an example of analternative delivery destination decision process of the deliverymanagement server 50. The process according to this flowchart isexecuted at every predetermined control period for each of luggage thatis a target of the trunk delivery service that the deliverer takes outfor delivery from a delivery office. Hereinafter, the same applies tothe flowchart of FIG. 11.

In step S1002, the delivery management unit 524 determines whether ornot the deliverer is in a situation in which the deliverer cannotdeliver the luggage that is a target to the delivery destination. Whenthe delivery management unit 524 determines that the deliverer cannotdeliver the luggage that is a target to the delivery destination, thedelivery management unit 524 proceeds to step S1004 and, otherwise, endsthis process.

In step S1004, the delivery management unit 524 determines whether ornot alternative delivery destinations, that is, a plurality of deliverydestination candidates has been registered in the delivery requestinformation corresponding to the luggage that is a target in thedelivery request information DB of the storage unit 520. When thedelivery destination candidates have been registered, the deliverymanagement unit 524 proceeds to step S1006 and, otherwise, proceeds tostep S1012.

In step S1006, the delivery management unit 524 determines whether ornot selectable alternative delivery destinations remain among thedelivery destination candidates registered in the delivery requestinformation corresponding to the luggage that is a target. That is, thedelivery management unit 524 determines whether or not the deliverydestination candidate with a priority lower than that of the latestdelivery destination set for the luggage that is a target (thedesignated delivery destination or the latest alternative deliverydestination decided when the luggage cannot be delivered to thedesignated delivery destination) has been registered. When theselectable alternative delivery destinations remain, the deliverymanagement unit 524 proceeds to step S1008 and, otherwise, proceeds tostep S1012.

In step S1008, the delivery management unit 524 decides that a deliverydestination candidate having a next priority after the priority of thecurrently set delivery destination is an alternative deliverydestination.

In step S1010, the delivery management unit 524 transmits information onthe decided alternative delivery destination (hereinafter referred to as“alternative delivery destination information”) to the mobile terminal20Ac of the deliverer via the communication processing unit 521 and endsthis process.

On the other hand, in step S1012, the delivery management unit 524settles that the luggage that is a target is re-delivered later.

In step S1014, the delivery management unit 524 transmits a notificationindicating that a procedure of re-delivering the luggage that is atarget has been settled (hereinafter referred to as a “redeliverysettlement notification”) to the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer,and ends this process.

Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can decide thealternative delivery destination based on the delivery destinationcandidates registered in the storage unit 520, for example, at the timeof the request for delivery and the priority of each deliverydestination candidate. Therefore, the delivery management server 50 cansuppress redelivery of luggage.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart schematically showing another example of thealternative delivery destination decision process of the deliverymanagement server 50.

Steps S1102 to S 1110 of this flowchart are the same as steps S1002 toS1010 of the flowchart of FIG. 10, and thus description thereof will beomitted.

On the other hand, when a determination is made in step S1104 that thereis no registration of the alternative delivery destination, that is,that a plurality of delivery destination candidates are not registered,the delivery management server 50 transmits the above-described inquiryfor prompting the registration of the alternative delivery destinationto, for example, the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab of the regular users ofthe vehicle 10A, and waits for the alternative delivery destination tobe registered in step S1112. That is, in step S1112, the deliverymanagement server 50 executes the process of the flowchart of FIG. 9described above.

In step S1114, the delivery management unit 524 determines whether ornot the delivery destination candidate is additionally registered in thedelivery request information corresponding to the luggage that is atarget in the delivery request information DB of the storage unit 520 bythe delivery destination candidate registration unit 525 within theabove-described predetermined time. When the delivery destinationcandidate corresponding to the luggage that is a target is additionallyregistered in the storage unit 520 within the predetermined time, thedelivery management unit 524 proceeds to step S1106 and, otherwise,proceeds to step S1116.

Since the processes of steps S1116 and S1118 are the same as theprocesses of steps S1012 and S1014 of the flowchart in FIG. 10,description will be omitted.

Thus, the delivery management server 50 can decide that the alternativedelivery destination is the additionally registered delivery destinationcandidate through the processes of steps S1106 to S1110 and cause theluggage to be delivered to the decided alternative delivery destination.That is, even when a plurality of delivery destination candidates is notregistered at the time of the request for delivery or the like, thedelivery management server 50 can prompt the user to additionallyregister the delivery destination candidate to cause the luggage to bedelivered to the additionally registered delivery destination candidate.Therefore, the delivery management server 50 can further suppress theredelivery of the luggage.

Operation

Thus, in the embodiment, the delivery management server 50 assists inthe operation of the delivery service (vehicle cabin delivery service)in which the inside of the vehicle cabin including the trunk of thevehicle 10A used by the user can be designated as the deliverydestination of the luggage. Specifically, the delivery destinationcandidate registration unit 525 registers a plurality of candidates asdelivery destinations of the luggage (delivery destination candidates)and the priorities for the delivery destination candidates in thestorage unit 520. When the deliverer cannot deliver the luggage to thedelivery destination with the highest priority designated by the user,the delivery management unit 524 decides an alternative deliverydestination from the delivery destination candidates based on thepriority.

Thus, even when the luggage cannot be delivered to the designateddelivery destination, the delivery management server 50 can decide thedelivery destination candidate with the next highest priority of thepriority of the designated delivery destination to be the alternativedelivery destination. Therefore, the delivery management server 50 cansuppress redelivery.

In the embodiment, the delivery management unit 524 decides that thealternative delivery destination is the house of the user when the houseof the user is included among the delivery destination candidates andthe priority of the house of the user is highest next to the vehiclecabin of the vehicle 10A in a case where the deliverer cannot deliverthe luggage to the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A despite the vehiclecabin of the vehicle 10A being designated as the delivery destination ofthe luggage by the user.

Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can decide that the houseof the user in which a family member is likely to be or a delivery boxis likely to be deployed is an alternative delivery destination evenwhen the deliverer cannot deliver the luggage to the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10A as the designated delivery destination since the vehicle10A has moved from the designated house or the trunk of the vehicle 10Ais full. Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can specificallysuppress redelivery.

In the embodiment, in a case where there is no one at the house of theuser at the time of delivery of the luggage despite the house of theuser being designated as the delivery destination of the luggage by theuser, the delivery management unit 524 decides that the alternativedelivery destination is the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A when thevehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A is included among the deliverydestination candidates and the priority in the vehicle cabin of thevehicle 10A is highest next to the house of the user.

Accordingly, even when the luggage cannot be delivered to the house ofthe user since there is no one at the house, the delivery managementserver 50 can decide that the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A of theuser parked at the house is the alternative delivery destination.Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can specifically suppressredelivery.

In the present embodiment, the delivery destination candidateregistration unit 525 registers the delivery destination candidates andthe priorities for the respective delivery destination candidates setusing the terminal of the user using the delivery site, the deliveryapplication, or the like in the storage unit 520 in advance regardlessof a request for delivery of luggage.

Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can decide thealternative delivery destination, for example, when the luggage cannotbe delivered to the delivery destination with the highest priority,based on the priorities registered in advance at the time ofregistration for use of the vehicle cabin delivery service. Therefore,the user can cause the luggage to be delivered to the deliverydestination of the delivery destination candidate with the highestpriority registered in advance, without performing troublesomeregistration each time, by registering the delivery destinationcandidate in advance. Further, even when the luggage cannot be deliveredto the delivery destination candidate with the highest priority, theluggage can be delivered to the alternative delivery destination.Therefore, the delivery management server 50 can improve convenience forthe user who wishes for luggage to be delivered to the same designatedplace every time.

In the present embodiment, the delivery destination candidateregistration unit 525 registers, in the storage unit 520, the deliverydestination candidates and the priorities for the respective deliverydestination candidates set using the terminal of the user through the ECsite or the like at the time of a request for the delivery of theluggage.

Thus, for example, the delivery management server 50 can request theuser to set delivery destination candidates and corresponding prioritiesat the time of a request of delivery of luggage, such as a case wherethe user designates the delivery destination when the user orders aproduct at the EC site or a case where the user changes the deliverydestination of the luggage scheduled to reach the house or the like tothe inside of the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10A. Therefore, the usercan make the delivery destination candidate and the correspondingpriority different for each request for delivery of the luggage.Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can improve conveniencefor a user who wishes to designate the delivery destination from time totime.

In the present embodiment, when the deliverer cannot deliver the luggageto the designated delivery destination, the delivery management unit 524transmits an inquiry for prompting registration of a candidate for analternative delivery destination having a next high priority after thepriority of the delivery destination designated by the user to themobile terminal of the user via the communication processing unit 521.The delivery destination candidate registration unit 525 registers thecandidate for the alternative delivery destination and the priority ofthe delivery destination candidate set from the terminal of the userafter the inquiry in the storage unit 520.

Accordingly, when the luggage cannot be delivered to the designateddelivery destination (that is, the delivery destination with the highestpriority), the delivery management server 50 can prompt the deliverydestination candidate with the next priority to be registered throughthe mobile terminal of the user. Therefore, the delivery managementserver 50 can cause the user to register the next delivery destinationcandidate solely when it is needed for the delivery destination to bechanged. Accordingly, a likelihood of a place to which the luggage canbe reliably delivered being registered by the user increases. Therefore,the delivery management server 50 can further suppress redelivery.

In the present embodiment, the delivery management unit 524 transmitsthe inquiry to the mobile terminals 20Aa, 20Ab of the user via thecommunication processing unit 521 when the inside of the vehicle cabinof the vehicle 10A is designated as the delivery destination of theluggage and the vehicle 10A has moved from a designated place within apredetermined time before a scheduled delivery date and time of theluggage.

Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 can prompt the user toregister an alternative delivery destination candidate before thedeliverer actually reaches the vehicle 10A. Therefore, it is possible toimprove working efficiency of the deliverer in the vehicle cabindelivery service.

In the present embodiment, the delivery destination candidatesregistered in the storage unit 520 include the vehicle cabin of thevehicle 10A owned by a family member of the user or the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10A owned by a friend of the user.

Accordingly, according to the delivery management server 50, even whenthe luggage cannot be delivered to the house of the user or the vehiclecabin of the vehicle 10A owned by the user, the luggage can also bedelivered to, for example, a trunk of a vehicle 10A owned by a familymember parked at the house or a vehicle 10A owned by a friend of theuser living in the vicinity. Therefore, the delivery management server50 can further suppress redelivery.

The embodiments have been described in detail above, but the presentdisclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments as describedabove, and various modifications and changes can be performed withoutdeparting from the gist of the present disclosure.

For example, in the embodiment described above, the mobile terminal 20transmits the authentication request including the authentication key tothe key unit 12, and the key unit 12 performs exchange of signals withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to anauthentication result based on the authentication key. Therefore, thelocking and unlocking of the doors of the vehicle 10A by the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 and the activation of the vehicle 10Aare realized, but the present disclosure is not limited to the aboveaspect.

Specifically, a configuration in which the function of the key unit 12is transferred to the mobile terminal 20, and the mobile terminal 20performs exchange of signals based on the above-described keyinformation (internal key information) with the vehicle 10 (the locking,unlocking and activation device 11) using the LF radio waves and the RFradio waves such that the locking and unlocking of the doors of thevehicle 10A and the activation of the vehicle 10A by the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 are realized may be adopted. In theabove-described case, the “authentication key” of the embodimentdescribed above may be read as the “key information”. That is, thecenter server 30 may issue the key information instead of theauthentication key and distribute the key information to the mobileterminal 20 in the same method as in the authentication key in theabove-described embodiment. Accordingly, the same operation and effectsas those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

The functions of the key unit 12 may be integrated with the locking,unlocking and activation device 11, and a configuration regardingcommunication between the locking, unlocking and activation device 11and the key unit 12 and authentication related to the communication (theLF radio wave transmitter 111, the RF radio wave receiver 112, thecollating ECU 113, the LF radio wave receiver 121, and the RF radio wavetransmitter 122) may be omitted. In the above-described case, when theauthentication of the mobile terminal 20 based on the authentication keyhas been successful, the key ECU 124 may directly output an unlockingcommand or a locking command and an activation command to each of thebody ECU 114 and the engine ECU 116 instead of the collating ECU 113,and perform locking and unlocking the doors of the vehicle 10 andactivation of the vehicle 10. Accordingly, the same operation andeffects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

In the embodiments and the modification examples described above, thetarget of locking and unlocking using the transmission signal (anauthentication signal or the like) transmitted from the mobile terminalis the vehicle, but the present disclosure is not limited to thisaspect. The vehicle according to the embodiments and the modificationexamples described above may be replaced with a building or a facilitythat is used by a user, such as a house, a villa, or a conference room.

Specifically, the vehicle cabin delivery service, the vehicle cabincollection service, or the vehicle cabin recovery service can bereplaced with a delivery service, collection service, or collectionservice in which the inside of a building (for example, a house or aprivate villa) or a facility (for example, a condominium or a conferenceroom) that is used by a user can be designated as a deliverydestination, a collection source, or a recovery source of luggage orproducts. In the above case, the “inside of the facility” means a placeat which invasion from the outside is prevented through locking at thefacility, and may include not only the inside of a building of thefacility but also, for example, a place at which a roof is not provided,on the inner side of a relatively high outside fence partitioning thefacility. Accordingly, it is possible to establish a mechanism thatcauses the inside of the building or the facility used by a user to bedesignated as a delivery destination of products while taking theprivacy of the user into consideration, similar to the above-describedembodiment.

The C2C car sharing service may be replaced with a C2C sharing servicethat assists in lending and borrowing of some or all rooms of aprivately own house or villa between individuals. Accordingly, it ispossible to realize sharing of part or all of a privately own house,villa, or the like between individuals.

The B2C car sharing service may be replaced with a B2C sharing servicein which a facility (for example, a condominium, a conference room, or agymnasium) that can be used by a plurality of users in different timeperiods, which is owned by a company, an organization, or the like islent to a user. Accordingly, sharing among general consumers of afacility that a plurality of users can use in different time periods,which is owned by a company, an organization, or the like, can berealized.

What is claimed is:
 1. A delivery assistance device that assists in anoperation of a delivery service in which an inside of a vehicle, abuilding, or a facility used by a user is designated as a deliverydestination of luggage, the delivery assistance device comprising: aprocessing device configured to store a plurality of candidates asdelivery destinations of the luggage and priorities for the candidates;determine that the deliverer cannot deliver the luggage to the vehiclebased on a position information of the vehicle; and decide analternative delivery destination from among the plurality of candidatesbased on the priorities for the candidates when a deliverer is not ableto deliver the luggage to the vehicle.
 2. The delivery assistance deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to lockand unlock a door or a trunk of the vehicle, the house, the building,and the facility by acquiring an authentication key from the centerserver and using the acquired authentication key.
 3. The deliveryassistance device according to claim 1, wherein in a case where there isno one at a house of the user when the luggage is delivered to the houseof the user despite the house of the user being designated as thedelivery destination of the luggage by the user, the deliverydestination decision unit decides the alternative delivery destinationas the destination with a second priority after the priority of thehouse of the user.
 4. The delivery assistance device according to claim1, wherein that the registration unit registers, in the storage unit,the candidates and the priorities for the respective candidates setusing a terminal of the user in advance regardless of a request fordelivery of luggage.
 5. The delivery assistance device according toclaim 1, wherein the registration unit registers, in the storage unit,the candidates and the priorities for the respective candidates set viaa terminal of the user when delivery of the luggage is requested.
 6. Thedelivery assistance device according to claim 1, further comprising atransmission unit configured to transmit an inquiry to the terminal ofthe user, the inquiry prompting registration of a candidate for analternative delivery destination having second priority after thepriority of the delivery destination designated by the user, when thedeliverer is not able to deliver the luggage to the vehicle, wherein theregistration unit registers, in the storage unit, the candidate for thealternative delivery destination and the priority of the candidate setfrom the terminal of the user after the inquiry from the transmissionunit.
 7. The delivery assistance device according to claim 6, whereinthe transmission unit transmits the inquiry to the terminal of the user,when the inside of the vehicle is designated as the delivery destinationof the luggage and the vehicle has moved from a designated place withina predetermined time before a scheduled delivery date and time of theluggage.
 8. The delivery assistance device according to claim 1, whereinthe candidates include the inside of the vehicle owned by a familymember of the user or the inside of the vehicle owned by a friend of theuser.
 9. The delivery assistance device according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a communication device configured to perform bidirectionalcommunication with each of a mobile terminal, a center server, and an ECserver over a predetermined communication network and configured toperform transmission and reception of various signals including controlsignals or information signals to and from each of the mobile terminal,the center server, and the EC server; and a delivery management unitconfigured to determine that the deliverer cannot deliver the luggage tothe delivery destination based on a position information of the vehicle,wherein when the deliverer is not able to deliver the luggage to aninside of the vehicle despite the inside of the vehicle being designatedas the delivery destination of the luggage by the user, the deliverydestination decision unit decides, as the alternative deliverydestination, a house of the user, when the house of the user is includedin the candidates and the priority of the house of the user is secondpriority after the priority of the inside of the vehicle.
 10. Thedelivery assistance device according to claim 9, wherein when theluggage cannot be delivered to a designated delivery destination, in astate in which delivery destination candidates, other than thedesignated delivery destination, are not registered in the registrationunit, the delivery management unit is configured to transmit an inquiryfor prompting the user to register the alternative delivery destination.11. The delivery assistance device according to claim 1, wherein thepriorities of the respective delivery destination candidates areacquired.
 12. A delivery assistance method that is executed by adelivery assistance device that assists in an operation of a deliveryservice in which an inside of a vehicle, a building, or a facility usedby a user is designated as a delivery destination of luggage, thedelivery assistance method comprising: executing one or more programsstored in ROM of a processing device; storing, in a storage unit of theprocessing device, a plurality of candidates as delivery destinations ofthe luggage and priorities for the candidates; determining, by theprocessing device, that the deliverer cannot deliver the luggage to thevehicle based on a position information of the vehicle; and deciding, bythe processing device, an alternative delivery destination from amongthe plurality of candidates based on the priorities for the candidateswhen a deliverer is not able to deliver the luggage to the vehicle. 13.The delivery assistance method according to claim 12, wherein when theluggage cannot be delivered to a designated delivery destination, in astate in which delivery destination candidates, other than thedesignated delivery destination, are not registered in the registrationunit, the method further comprises transmitting an inquiry for promptingthe user to register the alternative delivery destination.
 14. Thedelivery assistance method according to claim 12, wherein the methodfurther comprises locking or unlocking a door or a trunk of the vehicle,the house, the building, and the facility by acquiring an authenticationkey from the center server and using the acquired authentication key.15. The delivery assistance method according to claim 12, the methodfurther comprising: performing bidirectional communication with each ofa mobile terminal, a center server, and an EC server over apredetermined communication network and performing transmission andreception of various signals including control signals or informationsignals to and from each of the mobile terminal, the center server, andthe EC server.
 16. The delivery assistance method according to claim 12,the method further comprising: wherein when the deliverer is not able todeliver the luggage to the inside of the vehicle despite the inside ofthe vehicle being designated as the delivery destination of the luggageby the user, deciding, as the alternative delivery destination, a houseof the user, when the house of the user is included in the candidatesand the priority of the house of the user is second priority after thepriority of the inside of the vehicle.
 17. A non-transitorycomputer-readable computer medium storing a delivery assistance programassisting in an operation of a delivery service in which an inside of avehicle, a building, or a facility used by a user is designated as adelivery destination of luggage for an information processing device,the delivery assistance program causing the information processingdevice to execute: one or more programs stored in ROM of a processingdevice; storing, in a storage unit, a plurality of candidates asdelivery destinations of the luggage and priorities for the candidates;determining, by the processing device, that the deliverer cannot deliverthe luggage to the vehicle based on a position information of thevehicle; and deciding, by the processing device, an alternative deliverydestination from among the plurality of candidates based on thepriorities for the candidates when a deliverer is not able to deliverthe luggage to the vehicle.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablecomputer according to claim 17, wherein when the luggage cannot bedelivered to a designated delivery destination, in a state in whichdelivery destination candidates, other than the designated deliverydestination, are not registered in the registration unit, transmitting,by the processing device, an inquiry for prompting the user to registerthe alternative delivery destination.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable computer according to claim 17, locking and unlocking,by the processing device, a door or a trunk of the vehicle, the house,the building, and the facility by acquiring, by the processing device,an authentication key from the center server and using the acquiredauthentication key.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable computeraccording to claim 17, performing, by the processing device,bidirectional communication with each of a mobile terminal, a centerserver, and an EC server over a predetermined communication network andperforming transmission and reception of various signals includingcontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal, the center server, and the EC server.